Serbian defence industry company, French firms sign contracts in Paris

PARIS - A delegation of the Serbian Ministry of Defence, headed by Acting Assistant Minister for Material Resources Nenad Miloradovic, visited the Eurosatory 2026 international arms fair in Paris on Wednesday.

At the Jugoimport SDPR booth, contracts were signed with French defence sector companies with the aim of establishing industrial cooperation as part of a programme of an acquisition of French Dassault Rafale multi-role fighters by Serbia.

France's Dassault Aviation, Dassault Systems and Thales signed the contracts with Serbia's Military Technical Institute and Pancevo-based aircraft factory UTVA Avio-industrija.

"Projects encompassed by these contracts are the next step in years-long successful cooperation maintained by the Ministry of Defence and the national industry with these renowned French manufacturers and represent a solid foundation for advancement of the Serbian defence technology and industry base," the MoD said in a statement.

It said implementation of projects under the contracts would significantly contribute to advancement of the development capabilities of the Military Technical Institute and the development and production capabilities of Serbian factories through establishment of a modern integrated system of design, development, simulation and manufacture of new arms and military equipment by utilising leading-edge software tools, methods and positive practices of renowned French companies.