16.04.2022.
Minister Stefanović invites all citizens to attend Serbian military capabilities display at Batajnica airbase on April 30
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, who was a guest on a special show on the Radio Television of Serbia today, invited citizens to attend the Serbian military capabilities display at the Batajnica airbase on April 30.
- I invite the citizens to come to Batajnica on April 30 and see a display of capabilities of our Air Force and Air Defence. The main part of the show starts at 11 a.m., but the event is open to visitors from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Citizens will be able to see how much progress we have made, how much the capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces have increased and that we can be proud of our country, because it has managed to invest in its defence in extremely challenging times - said Minister Stefanović, emphasizing that the Republic of Serbia and its armed forces are widely respected today.
When asked about the procurement of UAVs, Minister Stefanović said that the Serbian Armed Forces have the CH-92 drone, which was also presented.- It is a UAV used by our military and I would say that our pilots have completely mastered operating this new aircraft. In addition to its basic role, this drone can also perform reconnaissance and fire missiles. Of course, we are considering other drones as well; we are talking to several different partners, because the future of warfare lies with drones. Unfortunately, we have had the opportunity to see that recently. I say unfortunately because we don't like to see wars happen anywhere in the world, but we need to learn from experience. It would be stupid of us not to learn from the experience of others and not to teach our personnel how to protect themselves and what is proving to be effective in combat. You have also heard what President Vučić has said. He has also talked to the President of Turkey, Mr. Erdogan, about the procurement of the Bayraktar system - said Minister Stefanović, adding that we are primarily interested in armed combat systems.
We are talking to both Chinese and Turkish partners, he said, and we are interested in the best solutions.
- Of course, our Air Force has the key say in that; they are the ones who decide what capabilities we need to be able to protect our country. They are the ones who say: “Give us something from this product range, we are interested in this or that”. And then, of course, we talk about the costs, capabilities, weapons, training, about the capacities that need to be built in our country - about hangars, mechanics, staffing, everything, and finally a decision is made. The Air Force decides what is optimal for us and what weapons we want - said Minister Stefanović.
