16.05.2025.
Balkan Friendship Jump 2025 officially open
The traditional parachuting event Balkan Friendship Jump 2025 was officially opened today at the sports airfield “Lisičji Jarak”.
The opening day was dedicated to training and demonstration jumps and competing. Training jumps from an altitude of up to 5,500 m were performed by veterans and sport parachutists, with the support of the 204th and the 98th Air Brigades of the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence.According to Colonel Nenad Kuzmanović (retd) from the 63rd Parachute Brigade Veterans’ Club “Arhistratig”, around 90 contestants applied for the 13th Balkan Friendship Jump. They will be jumping from Mi-8 helicopters and Antonov An-26 and Cessna 182 airplanes. As he explained, after performing training jumps, many of them took part in the parachuting competition, which included individual and team accuracy landing jumps.
- What is important about this year’s event is that one of our former soldiers from the 63rd Parachute Brigade, Dimitrije Dadić, has arrived from America especially for this event bringing a handmade flag of the Republic of Serbia. The size of the flag is 108 square metres and it could be seen in the sky during the demonstration jump which was performed, along with Dimitrije, by the commander of the 63rd Parachute Brigade, Colonel Aleksandar Stupar, and Bishop Jovan Ćulibrk of Pakrac and Slavonia – emphasized Kuzmanović, and expressed his gratitude to everyone who participated in the organization of the event.The event began with a moment of silence in remembrance of all the fallen and deceased paratroopers.
This year’s Balkan Friendship Jump has gathered participants from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, Germany, Hungary and Greece.
The parachuting competition, which lasts until May 18, is being held at Lisičji Jarak Airfield and at Colonel Pilot Milenko Pavlović Military Airfield in Batajnica.
The Balkan Friendship Jump 2025 is organized by “Arhistratig” – the 63rd Parachute Brigade Veterans’ Club and the Aeronautical Union of Serbia, with the support of the Ministry of Defence, Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, 63rd Parachute Brigade, Ministry of Sport, and parachute clubs “Feniks” and “Delta”.
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