A few days ago, the Serbian Ministry of Defense published a report on an inspection by President Aleksandar Vučić of newly acquired weapons and military equipment at the military airport “Colonel and Pilot Milenko Pavlović” in Batajnica.
At the meeting with Defense Minister Miloš Vučević, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Serbian Army, Lieutenant General Želimir Glišović, the Deputy Minister for Material Resources, Nenad Miloradovićm and the Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense, Lieutenant General Duško Žarković, eleven Mi-35P combat helicopters were also “unveiled”. These were apparently purchased from the Greek Cypriot Ethniki Froura’s (National Guard) and its Kypriaki Stratoitiki Aeroporia (Cypriot Air Force). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2b6oMwGj8I During the tour, President Vučić said that “rarely in our history have we been able to show so many new weapons in one day. We bought 22 radars, which Serbia and Yugoslavia had not purchased for decades. Two new Spanish Casa-295 transport aircraft are also on display here, and it is important to point out that they can transport 70 soldiers or 48 paratroopers with full parachute equipment, who can jump onto the battlefield much faster if necessary thanks to two side ramps. These aircraft significantly improve our transportation capacities both for international missions and domestically, as they are modern and very good machines,” says Vučić. “We also showed you eleven Mi-35P helicopters here for the first time. They are not airworthy now, but six of them will be overhauled in the first phase by the end of January 2024, and the remaining five by the end of the summer. The second phase of modernization will then follow. Today you could also see our modernized aircraft Lasta (note: a propeller trainer) and Orao (a Yugoslavian jet fighter-bomber from Soko).”
During the tour, Vučić pointed out that the new German H-145 helicopter from Airbus Helicopter would also be presented. According to the Serbian president, ten more light multi-purpose helicopters of this type are due to arrive by September next year. Incidentally, the model was also up for selection in Austria in 2021 – but in this country but the decision was made in favor of the AW169 from Leonardo. Vučić therefore also thanked “our Spanish and French friends and partners” for the good cooperation.
New record investment in the Serbian armed forces
“All of this is a great boost for the Serbian army – and we now want to continue on this path. We will build hangars for this, because previously the machines were outside and exposed to corrosion. We will continue to strengthen the capacities of the Serbian Armed Forces, despite attempts to discredit and attacks by those who do not like a strong Serbia. I thank the people of our country who have always stood by their army and who wanted to see a stronger army,” said President Vučić. He also pointed out that Serbia will invest even more in the coming years than this year – although the current investments already represent a record in Serbian history. The President also spoke about the additional recruitment of soldiers, especially in special units and referred to the high salaries of the members of these units. He expressed the hope that the service will be attractive to anyone who loves the army, who is patriotically oriented and who wants to live decently in the service of their country. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzMvhSRYmBA Hind helicopters are more than 20 years old
The Greek Cypriots intend to replace the Mi-35P with twelve new armed helicopters. In July 2022, the government announced that six H-145s would be procured from Airbus with an option for six more. These helicopters would take on attack and reconnaissance tasks. The twelve export versions of the classic Mil-Mi-24 (NATO: Hind) are exactly Mi-35P (the “P” stands for “Puschka”, i.e. cannon, and refers to the 30-millimetre twin machine gun mounted on the right in the direction of flight) and have shortened weapon wings and non-retractable landing gear compared to the original model. They were introduced to Cyprus in 2001 and (one crashed in 2006) were overhauled in 2014 at the 419th Aviatsionny Remontny Zavod (ARZ, aircraft repair plant) in St. Petersburg. When they returned to Cyprus, they were in the bright desert camouflage pattern in which they could now be seen in Batajnica. It was emphasized there that this would now have to give way to a colour scheme adapted to the Serbian vegetation. In any case, the sale to Serbia probably came about because the remaining eleven helicopters now require overhaul or depot maintenance, which is expensive and has become unfeasible for a Western country due to the sanctions against Russia since 2022. But not for “fraternal” Serbia.
