15.08.2022.
President Vučić: We will continue to strengthen armed forces and defence industry
Today, President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, and Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, General Milan Mojsilović, attended the display of new weapons and military equipment produced by the domestic defence industry for the Serbian Armed Forces units. The display was held at the Military Academy.
– I am proud of what we have seen today and let me explain to people – these assets are entering service with the Serbian Armed Forces, they are not something new that we have produced, but belongs to someone else. These six Noras that you saw, the 155 mm howitzer, these 12 Lazar-3 vehicles, all these new machines, the new Miloš with a 20 mm cannon, Pasars and Oganj multiple rocket launchers, pistols and man-portable rocket launchers, sights, radar systems, today they are all being adopted by the Serbian Armed Forces, the Fourth, Third and Second Brigades, special forces, the 63rd and 72nd Brigades. What I am proud of is that the Military Technical Institute has managed to equip both Vrabac and Pegasus with bombs or grenades and I think it is very important because that is the future - whoever is able to observe better, to see better, and have drones fitted with weapons, will have a huge advantage - said President Vučić.
President Vučić also pointed out the importance of domestic defence industry and its production capacities.– What is important and what I want to point out is rarely talked about – at any arms fair you visit anywhere in the world, you will see robot 1, robot 2 – in essence, none of those exist. No one has started mass producing anything. There is a serious shortage of weapons, military equipment and ammunition worldwide. Everything we produce we can sell literally in three days. Even the factories that some thought were ruined will be able to recover thanks to the huge demand. Today, there are ten buyers to every mine, every grenade, every bomb, and every rocket. And that shows the direction the world is going in and due to the increasingly strict sanctions that countries impose on each other, it is becoming increasingly difficult to produce anything - ammunition, equipment or weapons. That is why we need to focus on buying large quantities of the parts that we cannot produce, and in all other aspects rely entirely on our own production in the future, because very little cooperation with other countries will be possible and we have to modernize our military in this respect - said President Vučić.
According to him, the decision to increase the pay for the military by 25 percent as of January 1 next year is also very important.– This will increase the number of personnel in our units. You could see today that most of our soldiers come from the south and east of Serbia, and that poses a problem for us, but we believe that with these big, drastic changes and a dramatic pay raise for the military, we will succeed in motivating others, particularly people living in the area surrounding Belgrade and Vojvodina, who have so far been mainly interested in some better-paid jobs - said President Vučić.
The President of the Republic said that the displayed weapons significantly increased the firepower of our country.– We have bought lots of other things that are yet to arrive in our country, but it is uncertain how and when they will arrive. At the same time, we continue investing in our production and helping those factories to stay liquid and solvent and capable of feeding the people working there and their families, and helping our armed forces become even stronger than they are today. I am proud of our armed forces and the fact that we have secured the money, I am proud of our military industry, of our people who diligently work in all the factories in Čačak, Kragujevac, Lučani, Valjevo, Plana, Kuršumlija, Trstenik, in all parts of Belgrade - from Zemun to Barič, in all the towns, from Užice, Požega and Uzići, to all the other towns where our military industry is situated, including our overhaul institutes in Čačak and Kragujevac, which do great work. Thank you all. We have to continue strengthening our defence capabilities, our Armed Forces, but also our defence industry and in that regard, we have to depend on others as little as possible, but still cooperate with everyone. I am proud that there is an increasing demand for our "Noras". Everyone wants to buy 155 mm "Nora" ammunition, and our production cannot respond to such great demand. We have fitted them onto "Kamaz" trucks, and we will have them fitted on "Man" trucks, chassis. It is by all means an extraordinary weapon. It is a weapon of great destructive power, which can hit targets at 40 kilometres with great precision, causing serious damage to the enemy - said President Vučić.
Responding to journalists’ questions about the continuation of provision of equipment for the Serbian Armed Forces, the president reminded that over the last five years, 204 combat vehicles have entered service, and that additional 65 are being constructed.– If you look at the last three years, the period from 2018 to 2021, you can see that we have 46 times more weapons and military equipment than in the period from 2005 to 2008 - said Vučić.
According to him, 11 more H-145M helicopters are coming, whereas two more Cougars are to be delivered to the Ministry of the Interior.
– You have seen a growing usage of artillery, rocket artillery, drones, UAVs and of course helicopters in all circumstances, in both rescue missions and war. The usage of helicopters is much higher. Although the greatest power lies in multi-role aircraft, fighters, fighter-bombers, they are also the most expensive and the most powerful, but for us it is extremely important to always have a large number of helicopters, five, six, seven times more than in the past. And we will continue striving to achieve that number. Helicopters are not easily detected, they fly low, have enormous firepower and ability to destroy enemy armoured vehicles, enemy infantry, but also aerial targets, if they are equipped with air-to-air missiles. We have armed our helicopters with "Ataka" missiles and guns, so they are well equipped - said President Vučić.
More than 30 assets were displayed in the Military Academy courtyard, including the 8x8 "LAZAR-3" armoured fighting vehicle with 12.7 mm remote-controlled weapon station, 155 mm NORA B52 self-propelled howitzer, PASARS, modernized P-12M surveillance and target acquisition radar, modernized digitized OGANJ, universal mobile artillery computer station - UPARS, 1.4t 4x4 Zastava NTV off-road vehicle, FAP 2228 vehicle, 30mm automatic grenade launcher, "Zastava" EZ9/ EZ40 pistol, M20 optical sight (4x32) and RS-C reflex sight, battalion mobile switching node and the remotely piloted aircraft Pegasus.