Serbia Showcases New Military Hardware, Reintroduces Conscription

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić presented a comprehensive display of new and modernized military assets, asserting that the Serbian army is becoming increasingly powerful. Speaking at the Batajnica military airport, Vučić highlighted that this strength will be further amplified with the reintroduction of mandatory military service, scheduled to begin in March.

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Our army is getting stronger, and we will be even stronger when military service commences.

"Our army is getting stronger, and we will be even stronger when military service commences," Vučić stated. He believes the short, mandatory military service will instill greater responsibility, seriousness, and a different perspective on life among young men and women. The bureaucratic procedures for its reintroduction will start before March, with the service itself beginning that month.

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It will further enhance our defense capabilities. When do we start? We said we start in March, so bureaucratic procedures will begin before that, and in March, we will begin short, very short military service, which I think will bring good to all men and many girls, and much more responsibility and seriousness and a different perspective on life and everything else.

The showcase featured advanced weaponry, including MiG-29 and Orao fighter jets equipped with munitions, H145 helicopters, various drones, and missile launchers. Vučić expressed satisfaction that missiles and guided bombs were presented for the first time, noting that previously, only equipment and aircraft were displayed. Among the notable items were the CM-400 quasi-ballistic missile, a Chinese-manufactured system that Vučić acknowledged is expensive but being procured, and the LS-6 guided bomb, also of Chinese origin, designed for destroying large enemy fortifications and infrastructure.

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I am very happy and pleased that for the first time we are showing missiles, guided bombs, and everything else. We have always shown only tools and aircraft and nothing else.

Other showcased equipment included A31 anti-radar missiles with a range of 100-130 kilometers and the modernized Orao M1A aircraft, designed for fire support and offensive operations in adverse conditions. Vučić mentioned that numerous contracts have been signed and that much of the presented equipment has already arrived. The event was attended by Interior Minister Ivica Dačić, the President of Republika Srpska Nenad Stevandić, and the President of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats Milorad Dodik, underscoring the significance of the military display.

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It is not cheap, but we are certainly procuring more such missiles.