17.06.2026.
Industrial cooperation contracts signed at Eurosatory 2026 Defence & Security Exhibition
A delegation from the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, led by Acting Assistant Minister for Material Resources Nenad Miloradović, Ph.D., is visiting the Eurosatory 2026 Defence and Security Exhibition, which is being held in Paris.
Significant contracts were signed today at Jugoimport SDPR’s stand with the French companies Dassault Aviation, Dassault Systèmes, and Thales, as part of the implementation of Dassult Aviation’s commitment to establish industrial cooperation with the Serbian defence industry under the programme for the procurement of the Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft.The projects covered by these contracts represent another step forward in the long-standing, successful cooperation of the Serbian Ministry of Defence and its industry with these prominent French manufacturers, while also providing a solid basis for the further enhancement of Serbia’s technological and industrial base in the field of defence. The contracts were signed with the Military Technical Institute and the Pančevo-based “UTVA Avio-Industrija” factory.
The implementation of these projects will significantly enhance the Military Technical Institute’s development capability, as well as the development and production capabilities of Serbian factories, through the establishment of a modern integrated system for the design, development, simulation, and production of new weapons and military equipment. This will be achieved through the use of state-of-the-art software tools, methodologies, and best practices of the renowned French companies. The projects will establish a synergistic and integrated approach to carrying out development tasks across nine entities within Serbia’s defence industry complex. This will considerably improve the quality and speed of execution of development tasks, which is a key quality in today’s context of rapid changes in the application of defence technologies and the quick mastering of new product development based on Industry 4.0 principles.
The conditions for establishing an artificial intelligence laboratory at the Military Technical Institute have been created. The laboratory will bring together the activities of connected Serbian entities working in this field and enable the accelerated development of its own tools and algorithms for the practical application of AI in highly sophisticated modern autonomous weapons systems, as well as in data processing and command and control systems, and other areas relevant to the defence system. The laboratory will also be able to utilize the significant capabilities of the National Data Centre and its supercomputers.Under the industrial cooperation contract with UTVA, technology transfer will be carried out for the production of complex assemblies for the Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft, which will result in the inclusion of the Serbian factory in Dassault Aviation’s supplier network in the coming period.
In the coming period, additional agreements are to be signed for the implementation of industrial cooperation projects with Dassault Aviation and its partners, with the aim of fulfilling the company’s commitments to establish industrial cooperation with the Serbian defence industry. This will further strengthen the capabilities of the Serbian defence industry and contribute to the further development of cooperation with France.
The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia implements this model of industrial cooperation in order to enhance the technological capabilities of the domestic defence industry as part of the procurement of nearly all modern, complex combat systems from some of the world’s most technologically advanced manufacturers.
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