ZAGREB --- The Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces and the President of the Republic, Aleksandar Vučić, today visited the display of newly acquired weapons and military equipment for the Serbian Armed Forces at the military airport "Colonel-Pilot Milenko Pavlović" in Batajnica.
The tour was attended by Minister of Defense Miloš Vučević and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army, Lt Gen Želimir Glišović.
President Vučić said that rarely in our history, in one day, have we been able to show so many new weapons.
“We bought 22 radars, which Serbia and Yugoslavia had not bought for decades. Two new Spanish CASA transport planes were also shown, and it is important to point out that they can transport 70 soldiers or 48 paratroopers under full parachute equipment and that thanks to two ramps on the side they can jump into the battlefield much faster if necessary. These planes significantly improve our transport capacities both for international missions and in the country, because they are modern and very good planes,” said the Serbian president, who also thanked Spanish and French friends and partners for their cooperation.
He pointed out that the new German helicopter H-145 was also presented today; it is considered to be "quieter and better than the previous one". According to the President of Serbia, 10 more such helicopters should arrive by September next year.
“Today you could see our modernized "Lasta" and "Orao" planes, and we also showed 11 Mi-35 helicopters. Six of them will be modernized in the first phase by the end of January, and the remaining five by the end of the summer, then the second phase of modernization will follow. It is a huge reinforcement for the Serbian Army, which we will continue. We will build hangars, because previously the planes were standing outside and were exposed to corrosion. Thank you to all partners that we were able to strengthen the capacities of the Serbian Armed Forces, we will persevere in this, regardless of attempts to discredit and attacks coming from those who do not like a strong Serbia,” said President Vučić.
The President of Serbia thanked the people of our country who "always stood by their army, who wanted to see a stronger army". As he pointed out, more will be invested in the coming years than this year, and this year set a record in the history of Serbia in terms of investment in our country and our army.
The President of the Republic also spoke about the additional recruitment of soldiers, especially in special units, and referred to the high salaries of members of those units and expressed the hope that "it will be attractive to everyone who loves the army, who is patriotically oriented and who wants to live decently serving their country ".
During the tour, Assistant Minister for Material Resources Dr. Nenad Miloradović and Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Lieutenant General Duško Žarković presented the projects of equipping the Air Force and Air Defense Forces with newly acquired weapons and military equipment to President Vučić. Mi-35P and H-145M helicopters, modernized "Orao" planes, CASA C-295 transport planes and "Lasta" planes were on display at the tactical-technical conference in Batajnica.
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