Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić unveiled the Repellent anti-drone system, acquired from Russia, on Statehood Day, adding that combat vehicles and infantry equipment had also been purchased and would be incorporated into the Serbian Armed Forces’ arsenal.
“The repellent has arrived. It is not as strong as Krasuha, but it is excellent,” said Vučić.
Combat vehicles BRDM-2MS, Lazar, Miloš, MRAP, and Hammer were presented, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles. Infantry equipment – Cornet, Bagot, BGA 30mm – equipment for observation and protection, and equipment for breaking up demonstrations used by members of the Military Police were also acquired.
Vučić announced that new products from the domestic specialised industry would be introduced into the Serbian Armed Forces’ armament.
“We are now investing €300 million in the products of domestic industry that enter our army. Only in domestic industry and products,” said Vučić and added that he expects “Tamnava” to be part of the Serbian Army by the end of the year.
He added that Nora, Gvozdika and Tamnava were great reinforcements for the army and that there were 18 Noras in the brigade, with six more due to arrive. Vučić called this a new generation of artillery, which he said, along with tanks, was the mother of all wars.
“And that can be seen in Ukraine now. We can love drones and helicopters, but artillery essentially wins on the front,” said Vučić, in apparent praise of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The mobile anti-drone system Repelent-1 can suppress or destroy swarms of surveillance and attack drones, with minimal reflective surfaces and sizes. It allows to automatically detect and neutralise enemy reconnaissance drones and kamikaze drones at distances of up to 30 kilometres, performing strong electronic jamming of their steering sensors or satellite navigation links,” military commentator and editor-in-chief of TV Front Andrej Mlakar told Mondo.
He said that the country is known throughout the world for its artillery.
“Our Nora is even used by Cyprus, a member of the EU, and soon we will have the deal of the century with Azerbaijan as well,” he added.
The Gvozdika is a self-propelled Russian howitzer developed during the Soviet era and which Serbia inherited from the arsenal of the former JNA, said Mlakar.
“The calibre is 122 mm. Now, it has found reaffirmation in the war in Ukraine. It is used by the Russians and Ukrainians together with the Acacia self-propelled howitzer 152 mm. We modified it with a new ballistic computer, SUV, grenades with an increased range of up to 25 kilometres, and an extinguishing system fire.”
Tamnava is a self-propelled multi-barrel modular rocket launcher. It was created to modify the M-87 Orkan rocket system.
“To replace the Orkan, a modified Tamnava was created with two modular launchers, one Grad rocket launcher, and modified G-2000 rockets with a range of 40 km. Grad rockets’ earlier versions had a range of 21 kilometres. The new R-262 missile has an increased range of up to 70 kilometres,” Mlakar added.
Russia is the only European country, apart from Belarus, that has refused to align its foreign policy with that of the European Union. Instead, if continues to build and nurture relations with Moscow including signing agreements and exchanging high-level delegations.
(Euractiv.rs | Milena Antonijević)
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Source: euractiv.com