08.06.2023.
Another successful live firing at aerial targets conducted at Shabla Range in Bulgaria
A delegation from the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, led by State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, Nemanja Starović, attended today an air defence live fire exercise conducted by members of the Serbian and Bulgarian armed forces at the Shabla Range near Varna.
Our service members have demonstrated a high degree of precision and made excellent hits, making this year’s firing at aerial targets at the Shabla Range a success. This has concluded the seventh live fire exercise jointly conducted by members of the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence and members of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The crews and teams of both the Air Defence missile units and the fighter aviation have demonstrated great competence.State Secretary Starović and Bulgaria’s Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov, with Air Force and Air Defence Commander Lieutenant General Duško Žarković in attendence, congratulated the personnel of the Air Defence units who conducted the live firing today.
Upon their return from the positions, they exchanged impressions with crewmembers and officers commanding the live fire exercise - Chief of Staff at the Air Force and Air Defence Command, Brigadier General Gordan Pavlović, and 250th Missile Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Tiosav Janković. They also discussed the importance of the experience gained through exercises like this. Members of the 250th Missile Brigade fired at aerial targets above the Black Sea using the Neva and Kub missile systems, and members of the 204th Air Brigade fired air-to-air missiles from MiG-29 aircraft.
The live fire exercise conducted today was preceded by preparations of Air Defence combat crews at the Shabla Range and members of the aviation units at the Balchik Airfield. Its purpose is to improve the overall ability of the Air Force and Air Defence units to protect the airspace of the Republic of Serbia and it is also an opportunity for the members of these units to test in the field the capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces’ combat equipment.
Members of the Serbian Armed Forces first participated in the Air Defence live fire exercise at the Black Sea Shabla Range in 2010.The final event at the Shabla Range was attended by Assistant Minister for Defence Policy Predrag Bandić, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Sofia Željko Jović and Defence Attaché of the Republic of Serbia in Sofia, Lieutenant Colonel Željko Simić.
