Vucic: Serbia to produce UAVs, drones, boost special forces by 5,000

BELGRADE - The Serbian Armed Forces will step up their focus on domestically-produced UAVs and drones and work on bolstering special troops, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said after Monday's Guard House meeting at which he was given a presentation of the army's operational and functional capabilities in 2022.

He said special forces personnel would see a major salary increase and that their number would be boosted by up to 5,000.

"We were informed of the operational and functional capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces and we reviewed all deficiencies and everything related to procuring additional equipment and weapons, and plans for last year and this year. We must commit much more to getting new equipment from Serbia's defence industry - in the same way we have delivered PASARSes, Miloses, 'Little Lazars', Gvozdiks and other things, we will focus on UAVs and drones - above all, domestically produced ones - and invest a lot in further growth of the living standards of army personnel," Vucic said.

He said Serbia was very adversely impacted by the Ukraine war.

We cannot import the weapons and military equipment we are planning to buy and have paid for, and we also cannot import spare parts, he explained.

"That is why we must resort to our own devices, we looked at the security environment and saw where the security risks are, we reviewed the strength of everyone else and compared our own strength, and we will continue to do that," Vucic concluded.

Besides Vucic, the meeting was attended by PM Ana Brnabic, Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlic, Defence Minister Milos Vucevic and Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Gen Milan Mojsilovic.