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The Republic of Serbia will acquire more than 5,000 “Mosquito” kamikaze drones and consider the reintroduction of mandatory military service, according to President Aleksandar Vucic.
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The Serbian leader and Serbian Armed Forces commander-in-chief made the announcements while touring the country’s Military Technical Institute in Belgrade on 9 March. He was accompanied on the tour by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Milos Vucevic and Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff General Milan Mojsilovic.
The Serbian leadership team and representatives from the defence industry were briefed on new development projects and research including several drone types, including Mosquito kamikaze drone prototypes, Vrabac short-range reconnaissance UAVs, and Pegasus multi-role tactical UAVs.
Combat and non-combat systems, weapons, military equipment, and products manufactured by the Serbian defence industry were also on display at the Military Technical Institute.
“The goal is to have 5,000 Mosquito drones (with warheads made by the state-owned Krusik Corporation),” the President of Serbia said.
“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.”
Serbian research and development team must continue to increase development of unmanned aerial vehicles, and the government will invest more funding to encourage aircraft deployment before the end of the year, according to President Vucic.
He also called for Serbia to remain a neutral country by protecting its freedom and being stronger than countries in the surrounding area to deter aggressive behaviour. The reintroduction of three months of mandatory military service is also currently under consideration.
“In two years’ time, Serbia will produce 122mm to 155mm calibres like Germany,” said President Vucic.
“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.”
Other equipment presented to the Serbian leader at the institute reportedly included combat vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, a hybrid artillery-missile anti-aircraft system, machine guns, pistols, sniper rifles and service rifles, an M-84AS prototype main battle tank, 125mm Nora B-52 self-propelled howitzers, rocket launchers, and other items.
