Serbian Armed Forces

Balkan Strongest Military Force

Serbian Air Force and Air Defence

• The Serbian Air Force and Air Defence  is the air force of Serbia and service branch of the Serbian Armed Forces. Established in 1912, it is one of the oldest air forces in the world.

Roundel of the Serbian Air Force

History of Serbian Air Force

• In 1912, a group of Serbian officers were sent to France for flight training. Serbia ordered several Blériot XI-2 aircraft by act of Marshal Radomir Putnik. Subsequently, the military at this time established its air force command centre in the city Niš. This made the Kingdom of Serbia, one of the first 15 states in the world to have an air force. On 30 September 1915, during World War I, Serbian Air Defence members shot down the first enemy aircraft over the city ofKragujevac. This day was, by the act of King Aleksandar I, proclaimed the Air Defence Artillery Division’s day. Front-line Serbian-French joint escadrilles formed in Thessaloniki, and the government formed the first and second fighter escadrilles in 1918.

Equipment – Aircrafts

• The air force fleet consists of several Soviet combat aircraft, consisting of a number of MiG-21s, and MiG-29s. Serbia is looking to replace its aging fleet with new multi-role fighters. Before its demise, the former Yugoslav Air Force was developing the Novi Avion project which was intended as a replacement. The project was canceled in 1991 due to the outbreak of war.

• Serbia as the largest succeeding nation of Yugoslavia, received the bulk of the former air forces aircraft. Since the Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control was enacted in 1996, dozens of J-22s, J-21s, G-4s, and G-2s have been withdrawn and/or scraped.

• The air force operates from two major air bases, the 204th Batajnica Air Base and 98th Lađevci Air Base.

Aircrafts

MiG - 29s

MiG - 21s

Soko G-2 Galeb Soko G-4 Super Galeb

Soko J-22 Orao

Soko J-21 Jastreb

Helicopters

Mi-17Soko Gazelle

Air Defence

• Serbia operates a variety of ex-Soviet surface-to-air missile systems. Many are long-range with a moderate amount of short-range weapons assigned to infantry units. The modernization of Air Defence units and equipment is a primary concern of Serbian military leaders.

• The 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade operates SA-3 and SA-6 surface-to-air missile systems. The military is upgrading both types with fire and forget ability. The air force has upgraded "Neva-M" to the "Neva-M1T" standard.

Air Defence

SA-3

SA-6

Radars• S-605/654 Observation radars• S-613 Altitude measurement radar• AN/TPS-70 3D radar• AS-74 and AS-84 automatized systems

Serbian Army

• The Serbian Army is responsible for ground based operations of the Serbian Armed Forces.

• The Serbian Army is responsible for:• deterring armed threats• defending Serbia's territory• participation in peacekeeping operations• providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief

Equipment of the Serbian Army

• Small Arms• Armoured vehicles• Artillery• Anti-aircraft weapons

Small Arms

M21 M76M93 Black Arrow

M84 CZ-99 M70

Armoured vehicles

M-84 M-80A

BTR-50 BRDM-2

Artillery

D-30J M-462S1 Gvozdika

M-77 M-87

Anti-aircraft weapons

SA-7

Bofors L/70 40mm

SA-9

SA-13

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