IDEX arms and military equipment expo UAE (BETAPHOTO/MINISTRY OF DEFENSE )
Serbia has ordered “a very serious quantity” of loitering munition, a.k.a. suicide drones, from the United Arab Emirates, which is currently hosting the IDEX arms and military equipment expo, Defense Ministry State Secretary Nemanja Starovic announced on Feb. 22, adding that the domestic arms industry is working hard on developing its own production of this kind of weapon.
“We aren’t threatening anyone but rather want our country to have efficient defenses. Our top interests are peace and stability in the region,” Starovic told the RTS public service.
Starovic explained that the Serbian army is going through a new equipping cycle and that 200 new tools – such as armored vehicles, modernized tanks and multiple rocket launchers, all of which have already been ordered from domestic factories – will be procured in the next 18 months.
According to him, Serbia’s defense industry could easily sell everything it produces to foreign buyers, even a decade in advance. However, a significant portion of the industry’s output must be put toward equipping the country’s own military, he said.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic attended the IDEX in Abu Dhabi and announced on Feb. 20 that Serbia would be signing its first contract with the UAE for the purchase of loitering munitions within 48 hours.
Vucic also expressed his hope that the Army of Serbia would receive its first domestically-produced suicide drones in the next five to six months.
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