17.04.2024.

Minister of Defence, Chief of General Staff visit SAF troops in Pešter

Minister of Defence Miloš Vučević and Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff Gen. Milan Mojsilović visited today SAF troops who are conducting tactical drills at the provisional training area Pešter as part of Joint Tactical Live-Fire Exercise Whirlwind 2024.

Exercise Whirlwind 2024 is being conducted under the directive of the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, in order to enhance the capability of commands and units of the Serbian Armed Forces to carry out tactical and fire missions in preparation for the execution of combat operations.

Minister Vučević ascertained that the troops were ready to perform their tasks in all weather conditions and said that he was very proud of all members of the Serbian Armed Forces and grateful for everything they did every day, week, month and year, looking after our homeland, Serbia.

- I hope that, if the weather allows, we will have the chance to see on Friday what the members of the Serbian Armed Forces have been preparing to show us, i.e. their competence and everything they have at their disposal. A number of systems will be shown for the first time. More than 2000 members of the Serbian Armed Forces, more than 500 weapons systems, including the most complex, the most important, the most expensive and the most lethal ones. Something that hasn’t been seen before – said the minister of defence and thanked the chief of the General Staff and his assistants for everything they had done.

According to him, the citizens of Serbia can sleep peacefully because the Serbian Armed Forces are looking after our homeland and those who have ill intentions towards our country should leave us alone because it is in their best interest.

According to the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, the exercise activities are being conducted according to plan and in an organized fashion, considering the weather conditions.

- We are learning lessons from everything. We are analysing, and in a doctrinal sense, the Serbian Armed Forces will be provided with new solutions in the future, not only in terms of training, but also in terms of capability building. I would like to express delight and pride with what this, so to speak, task force has done in Pešter so far, and I hope that on Friday the weather will allow us to demonstrate everything we have planned and envisioned – said General Mojsilović.

Assistant Minister of Defence for Material Resources Nenad Miloradović, PhD, said that at the exercise, in rather adverse weather conditions, they had had the opportunity to test the latest assets, particularly various types of unmanned aerial vehicles and next generation reconnaissance and killer drones.

- We are satisfied. The technology has lived up to our expectations, but so has the personnel, who has had enough time to learn how to use it. Invaluable experience has been gained through the integration of the latest UAV command and reconnaissance systems, unmanned ground platforms and other assets in these weather conditions - emphasized Assistant Minister Miloradović.

The exercise is being conducted by the Army, Air Force and Special Forces, and in terms of the number and variety of participating effective combat forces, it is one of the largest and most comprehensive exercises ever conducted by the Serbian Armed Forces.

Among the assets used in the exercise are М-84 and Т-72М tanks, BOV OT, Miloš, Lazar-3, and MRAP armoured combat vehicles, the 155 mm Nora-B52 self-propelled howitzer, and modernized and digitized multiple rocket launchers Oganj and Humvee.

The aircraft used in the exercise are MiG-29, modernized Orao, and G-4 Super Galeb planes, Mi-35M, Mi-17, H-145M and Gama helicopters, and CASA C-295 and An-26 transport planes. The CH-95 remotely piloted aircraft, FК-3, PASARS and PANTSIR-S1 anti-aircraft systems, and the Repellent UAV detection and jamming system are also being used.

Exercise Whirlwind 2024 is, among other things, an opportunity to showcase modernized assets and assets currently in development, including the Pegasus reconnaissance UAV, the Vrabac (Sparrow) short-range drone, the Shadow armed short-range UAV, the Osica (Wasp) killer drone, the Obad (Gadfly) armed drone, and the Komarac (Mosquito) armed mini quadricopter.