09.03.2024.
President Vučić visits Military Technical Institute
President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Miloš Vučević and Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff Gen. Milan Mojsilović, visited the Military Technical Institute today, where he met with the research and development staff from the Institute and the Serbian defence industry and was briefed on the degree of completion of the Institute’s new development projects.
During his tour of the Military Technical Institute, President Vučić gave special attention to kamikaze drone prototypes. Several drone types developed by Serbian experts were presented to the president, including the Mosquito drone.- The goal is to have 5,000 Mosquito drones - the President of Serbia said, adding that Krušik - Valjevo was making drone warheads.
He also pointed out the importance of Vrabac, a shorte range UAV used for reconnaissance and surveillance missions at distances of up to 25 km. The president was also introduced to the characteristics of the Pegasus UAV that has entered SAF service.
During today’s visit, President Vučić took the opportunity to request the development teams to speed up the development of UAVs and stressed that the government would invest even more money to hire additional staff to make sure that these aircraft enter service by the end of the year.Speaking about the Republic of Serbia in light of international relations, President Vučić said that Serbia was a neutral country that must protect its freedom and be much stronger than many countries in the surrounding area so as not to be the target of anyone's aggressive behaviour. According to him, newly developed assets have never entered service so fast as in the last three or four years.
- A decade’s worth of assets now enter service in a single year, as compared to the past. This is because the global circumstances are changing. We have to work fast, much faster. If we want to retain the engineers working at the Military Technical Institute, we need to increase their salaries. Some of these systems will become part of the Serbian Armed Forces’ armament before the end of the year, and kamikaze drones are among them. That will be Serbian production, but Serbia also buys everything it needs from abroad, said the President of Serbia.
Competitions for posts at the Military Technical Institute are open all the time and everyone is welcome, he said.Speaking about Serbia’s export of weapons and military equipment, President Vučić said that we export a lot and that we can export 30 years’ worth of equipment under one contract alone.
In two years’ time, Serbia will produce 122 to 155 mm calibres like Germany, said President Vučić and added that the armed forces’ fuel and food reserves are 100 percent full.
As for the reintroduction of mandatory military service, the duration of three months is being considered, President Vučić said. These plans are being actively worked on, he said, and when they are prepared, decisions will be made and presented to the public.At the end of the tour, President Vučić thanked everyone at the Military Technical Institute and the Serbian Armed Forces for working hard to make sure that we have a safe sky and a safe country.
- We will continue to invest. We have invested a lot of money and we will continue to do so. You can see that all European countries are arming themselves, and we must do the same, but to a much greater extent than others in order to remain intact and to be able to deter any potential aggressors. There are a lot of changes to be made, a lot of work to be done. I am never fully satisfied, but our military 10 years ago cannot compare with our military today. I am satisfied and would like to thank all the wonderful people who protect our country - said the President of Serbia.The visit began with a meeting between President Vučić and researchers and engineers. The director of the Military Technical Institute, Colonel Aleksandar Kari, said that the Institute had developed, improved, modernized and introduced into SAF armaments more than 1,500 weapons and items of military equipment and that 75 percent of weapons and military equipment used by the Serbian Armed Forces were the result of the work of the Military Technical Institute.
During a tour of the laboratories and weapons and military equipment display at the Military Technical Institute, Assistant Minister of Defence for Material Resources Nenad Miloradović, PhD, presented to President Vučić the assets on display, their capabilities, and the stages of their development.Various combat and non-combat systems, numerous weapons, military equipment, as well as products manufactured by the Serbian defence industry were on display at the Military Technical Institute today. Among them were UAVs and drones, combat vehicles Lazar-3, Miloš, MRAP, 4x4 BOV OT armoured personnel carrier, modernized BVP AB1 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as a hybrid artillery-missile anti-aircraft system.
The display included small arms such as machine guns, pistols, snipers and rifles, as well as M-84 AS 2 tanks, 125 mm Nora B-52 self-propelled howitzers, PASARS, Tamnava modular multiple rocket launcher and digitized and modular Oganj.
The president was accompanied on his tour by members of boards of the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the General Staff, representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, representatives of the defence industry factories and members of the Military Technical Institute staff.
