05.10.2020.

Minister Vulin: By upgrading existing assets, Serbian Armed Forces are using budget funds more prudently and enhancing their capabilities

Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin visited today the Military Technical Institute, where a zero series of command and reconnaissance vehicles (KIV) was presented, as a product of modernization of the armoured combat vehicle (BOV-3).

- The BOV is a vehicle that is well-known to our armed forces. It has been in all the wars and we have a lot of experience with it. We know its strengths and weaknesses and that is exactly why we started the process of its modernization. The BOV is much better protected now, its load-carrying capacity has been increased, it is armed and equipped, and now it is a vehicle that can rival any similar vehicle used by wealthier and more powerful armed forces than ours. The BOV is proof how important it is to preserve the defence industry, because all of this is a product of our intelligence, our knowledge and our engineers’ ideas – Minister Vulin emphasized, adding that the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić has always insisted that, before we buy any piece of equipment on the world market, we should first try to produce it ourselves, or upgrade the existing equipment available to the armed forces.

The Serbian Armed Forces will continue equipping themselves, the Minister of Defence points out, adding that none of our assets will be simply discarded and that everything that can be modernized and upgraded, will be modernized and upgraded, because “in that way we will be using the available budget funds much more prudently, and the combat readiness and capabilities of our armed forces will grow and make progress”.

Assistant Minister for Material Resources Nenad Miloradović, PhD, explains that there are several hundred armoured combat vehicles in the Serbian Armed Forces and that is one of the reasons why this platform is being upgraded. Also, he points out that, by upgrading the BOV-3 armoured combat vehicles, we obtained four variants of command and reconnaissance vehicles intended for the commanders of infantry and artillery battalions and the commanders of artillery batteries and reconnaissance sections.

- Through very thorough work, the required vehicle characteristics have been achieved on a very modern level. It is quite an old platform, but by making modifications we have achieved very good results, primarily in terms of protection. When it comes to cost-effectiveness, the right balance has been achieved and therefore further work on this platform as well as its further use for various other purposes is planned. Crew protection, functionality and comfort are world-class now and we are also quite satisfied with what has been achieved in terms of off-road mobility - Miloradović points out and adds that the zero series greatly contributes to the capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces because, by fitting the vehicles with components related to reconnaissance, situational awareness, new optoelectronic, communication and command and control information systems, command capabilities at the battalion level have been enhanced.

Miodrag Vujanović from the Military Technical Institute, the project manager responsible for overseeing the development of the command and reconnaissance vehicle, explains all the advantages of the command and reconnaissance vehicle over the BOV and says that a vehicle, which is very promising in every respect and that can be used for many years, has been made.

- The key thing about the command and reconnaissance vehicle is the communication and computer equipment that is installed inside, and the vehicle enables the commander to be in the battle formation and to be safe. The vehicle itself has a number of subsystems, from the weapons subsystem, to the electric power subsystem, which consists of internal batteries that ensure an uninterrupted 24-hour operation of the vehicle. Also, the vehicle has external sources such as the generator, which allows you to recharge the batteries and power the devices in the vehicle at any location. There is also a very modern air conditioning and ventilation system which allows the crew to work successfully even in extreme temperatures. The optoelectronic system enables the crew to drive the vehicle successfully in all combat and non-combat conditions – emphasizes Vujanović and says that the telecommunication and information system in the vehicle ensures a very fast and adequate transmission of commands, so that the commander has constant insight into the disposition of his and other units, thanks to the information that he gets via this system – Vujanović said.

According to Ranko Vuković, the director of the "FAP Corporation" Priboj, the modernization of the BOV is a project that is very important for the future of that factory, the people who work there and for the defence industry of Serbia.

- The most important thing is that people realized that they were working on a project for themselves, for the future of the factory, and thus for the state, which has its own company that will make a combat vehicle. Had it not been for the Military Technical Institute and the people from the Defence Technologies Department, FAP’s engineers and workers would not have been able to upgrade and integrate such a combat system, because it is something new for us. FAP is a car and truck factory and it has done well. Due to restructuring and organisation, our factory found itself in a new phase where it was evident that the future of FAP does not lie with the commercial programme, but with what the defence industry needs. When we started cooperating with the Serbian Defence Industry, we made efforts to adapt to the needs of the Serbian Armed Forces and the tasks they gave us. It was a tough challenge. It meant a lot to us financially, and on the other hand it was a great challenge - said Vuković.

Director of the Military Technical Institute, Colonel Bojan Pavković and associates involved in the development of the BOV and KIM vehicles also visited the Military Technical Institute today.