04.11.2019.
The Serbian Armed Forces Are Getting Stronger in every Way
In relation to irresponsible and outsider claims by Zdravko Ponoš, and for the purpose of truthful information of the public, General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces underlines the following:
- Former Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces Zdravko Ponoš, without any sound argument tries to dispute strengthening of the Serbian Armed Forces. He and those who used to manage the armed forces and defence system now present themselves as great protectors, but they did not know to protect them when those armed forces were weakened and their fighting power crumbling. Now, when they see that the Serbian Armed Forces are growing stronger, which they have to admit themselves, there are many things that frustrate them.
After too long period of insufficient investment in the armed forces, a strong investment cycle was initiated in the previous years, with understanding and support of the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces and the minister of defence, and a clearly visible progress has been made in all the segments of the Serbian Armed Forces, which are growing stronger day after day. The state takes care of its armed forces not only in terms of procurement of arms and military equipment, but in terms of significantly improved financial status and standard of their members by increased salaries, introduction of insurance and through undertaken measures for the betterment of housing.
Owing to military neutrality, our country is in a position to procure arms and military equipment deemed by our experts to be necessary for execution of first mission tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces – defence of the Republic of Serbia against an armed threat from abroad. We are acquiring arms and military equipment from Germany, France, Belgium, Russia, China and other countries, while significant assets have been donated to our armed forces by the Russian Federation, People’s Republic of China, United States of America, Republic of Belarus, which is something that not many countries can boast of.
Successful cooperation with the Russian Federation has enabled our Air Force, which was on the verge of destruction some 5-6 years ago, to rise again, and through procurement of a squadron of fighter planes, whose modernisation is in progress, we have once again become a respectable force of the region. We have procured the state-of-the-art multipurpose helicopters from our German partners, and modern arms and equipment for special units from a provider from Germany, Belgium and Israel…We are also equipping our units in accordance with the model 1500 and 1500+, primarily through procurement of arms and military equipment from national defence industry companies, by which we give a strong impetus to their development, balanced regional development and overall economic activities to the Republic of Serbia.
Critics of the current policy and its strong orientation towards armed forces strengthening go so far that they claim that we do not need modernised tanks T-72, which will be given to the Serbian Armed Forces as a gift from the Russian Federation, probably with an intent to justify why such assets were decommissioned and destroyed at their time, and units disbanded and the strength of the Serbian Armed Forces significantly reduced. For all that, there are no arguments to support the claim that modernised tanks T-72 are not required, and it is difficult to find them if one knows that these are tanks with new optics, fire management system, armour and other upgraded systems, which by no means can be underestimated, so the claim that we do not need them, is to put it mildly, wrong and dilettante.
The military neutrality of the Republic of Serbia and well-balanced international military cooperation have enabled the education and professional advancements of members of the Serbian Armed Forces at the most prestigious military educational institutions in the USA, United Kingdom, Russia, China and other partner countries, and it also enabled them to exercise together with elite units of militarily strongest countries. In the range of good exercise activities with the best, the Serbian Armed Forces have just participated in the exercise “Slavic Shield 2019” which was conducted on training grounds in the Russian Federation and Republic of Serbia jointly by units of the Serbian Armed Forces and Air-Cosmic Forces of the Russian Federation. At this exercise, members of our Air Defence units exercised deterring massive strike from air space with the assistance of the state-of-the-art missile systems and they exchanged experiences on organising AD systems and tactics for the use of AD units in contemporary armed conflicts. The benefits gained by the Serbian Armed Forces through participation in joint exercises with the units with recent combat experience in armed conflicts are immeasurable.
The Serbia Armed Forces do not conduct exercises only with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. On the contrary, members of our armed forces participate in different forms of training and advancement with the partners in the East and in the West – with the Russian Federation, People’s Republic of China, United States of America, and then with NATO member states and neighbouring countries, all with the aim of strengthening their capabilities and raising capacities for execution of tasks within all three missions of the Serbian Armed Forces.
