Serbia is the strongest! Except Romania
The Serbian Armed Forces, of course, are not a match for the Armed Forces of either "big" Yugoslavia (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), that is, the JNA, the Yugoslav People's Army, or the Armed Forces of "small" Yugoslavia (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). And they are inferior in numbers to the short-lived Armed Forces of S&Ch (Serbia and Montenegro). But in the matter of confronting the neighbors, one should not look back at the past, but should be guided by the current balance of forces with the neighbors. As they say, if you run away from a bear with a neighbor, then it is not necessary to run faster than the bear, but faster than the neighbor is an indispensable condition.
It can be stated that the Serbian Armed Forces, although greatly emaciated numerically (but very decently re-equipped and switched to voluntary manning, which has its pluses and minuses), is generally stronger than almost all of its neighbors, except perhaps for Romania. In the current Armed Forces of Serbia, consisting of two types: the Ground Forces (SV) and the Air Force and Air Defense (the fleet was lost along with Montenegro, and the Danube flotilla is part of the SV, and for some reason, it also includes pontoon units with our PMP parks) there are 28 thousand military personnel, not counting civilian employees.
Serbian Air Force. Bonding fragments
The air force and air defense of Serbia until recently were in a very poor condition. So, in the fighter aviation only 4 MiG-29s of the outdated version "9-12B" and "9-51" (combat training twins) remained in service, and 1 was in a non-flying state, and at the same time no more than 2 flew at all. There are also several flying MiG- 21 - 3-4 aircraft approximately. This, even against the background of those who joined NATO and finally reduced their armies (the striped master will protect everyone - that's what they think), the neighbors were somehow not at all impressive. Recently, Russia transferred to Serbia 6 fighters that previously belonged to the 31st Guards Fighter Aviation Nikopol Red Banner, ord. Suvorov Regiment named after the Hero of the Soviet Union N. E. Glazov (31st Guards IAP) in Millerovo in the Rostov Region. Now the regiment has been re-equipped with the Su-30SM and will also receive the Su-35S, and part of the MiGs went to the Serbs after the refurbishment. Russia will also refurbish and upgrade existing Serb MiG-29s to the same standard as the newly transferred MiG-29SMs.
The work will be partially carried out in Serbia itself, the level of modernization is most likely the same as that of the Syrian MiGs, capable of using both guided and corrected weapons against ground targets, and modern medium-range missiles RVV-SD (export version R-77-1) by air. Negotiations are also underway with the Republic of Belarus on the sale of 8 Belarusian MiG-29 "9-13" from storage after repair, perhaps the deal will "grow" this year. These machines are also planned to be modernized in Serbia according to the same SM option at the Moma Samoylovich aircraft repair plant, which is planned, with the assistance of the Russian Federation, to be turned into a regional center for the repair and maintenance of both MiGs and Mi-8/17 helicopters. Now French-designed helicopters are being repaired there, but locally assembled Gazelle helicopters will also be serviced by the Airbus H-145M purchased this year by the Serbian Air Force (former VK-117С2, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation has similar machines), of which 9 are ordered.
The Serbs also have about 26 J-22 "Orao" light subsonic fighter-bombers of the Yugoslav-Romanian development of various modifications (J-22, NJ-22, IJ-22 and INJ-22), of which 17 are capable of flying, and until recently time, only 2 regularly took to the air, and now 7 aircraft have recently been repaired and modernized and in the near future they will become fully combat-ready 12, and then all 17. There are also G-4M Super-Galeb subsonic combat training aircraft capable of like light attack aircraft and target tugs, there are 21 of them on the list, but not all of them fly either.
The functions of a light anti-guerrilla aircraft can also be performed by 14 new Serbian-designed Lasta-95 piston training aircraft, but such a "flying tank"Frankly, not much - no armor, low speed, carries a couple of containers with light and heavy machine guns, light NAR blocks or a couple of bombs. Consider that there is no transport aviation in Serbia - the only An-26 can perform the functions of parachute training or the withdrawal of special reconnaissance groups destination, but that's about it.
The helicopter fleet includes 10 Mi-17s, about 30 SA-341/342 French Gazelles assembled in Yugoslavia (some of these armorless helicopters are equipped with ATGMs and 20mm cannons and can perform anti-tank functions, in any case, there are no other helicopters with ATGMs in Serbia yet ). Perhaps something will appear later, for example, the Russian Federation can share the Mi-24P, anyway, they will soon fly off from us.
The air defense can also be considered a weakness of the Serbian Armed Forces - about two dozen batteries of the obsolete S-125M "Neva" and 2K12 "Cube", albeit modernized by local industry, cannot serve as worthy protection either for the troops or the country's territory, in military air defense - the same "Kuba", as well as short-range air defense systems "Strela-10M" (in one brigade) and even "Strela-1" (in the rest), and various anti-aircraft artillery. Of course, the S-125 can be converted into a Pechora-2M and get quite adequate systems for moderate money, but this is not enough. Therefore, negotiations are now underway with Moscow on the supply of 2 divisions of S-300PMU-2 air defense systems, but so far these systems seem to Belgrade to be too expensive and various deal options are being considered. It is also expected to receive 2 divisions of the Buk-M1 air defense system from Minsk, with their subsequent modernization by Russia to the Buk-M1-2E. It is not yet clear whether this delivery will take place this year, as previously reported. Purchases are also planned, and, perhaps, the transfer by Russia of more modern radar stations on duty and combat modes, electronic warfare equipment and other things.
Ground troops. Small but strong
The ground forces consist of 4 combat brigades, 1 mixed artillery (rather, rocket-artillery - it also contains MLRS), a special-purpose brigade, as well as the Danube River Flotilla and 4 separate battalions: the 3rd and 5th military police battalions, as well as - radiation, chemical and biological protection and a communications battalion.
Serbian brigades are somewhat larger than the standard for the current European armies, and differ from ours. They consist of 5 combat battalions: a tank battalion with 53 tanks, 2 mechanized (motorized infantry, or, in our opinion, motorized rifle) battalions, 2 infantry battalions (there is one such battalion in the 1st brigade), and there is also a self-propelled artillery battalion, a jet artillery battalion , air defense division, engineering, logistics and headquarters battalions. Such a structure does not seem to be balanced (in particular, it is not very convenient to form battalion tactical groups, and there is no need to mix light infantry with motorized infantry and tankers), but it is the result of cuts and reforms, although, in general, it is quite efficient. And deploying new mobilization units on the basis of such a structure is quite realistic. But, it should be noted that the Serbs now have greatly reduced stocks of weapons and equipment in storage, in particular, several hundred T-55s were decommissioned a few years ago (partially they were already sold for scrap, some are waiting for their fate), so they won’t mobilize much.
The deployment of Serbian brigades also shows priorities - out of 4 combat brigades, one is in the north, with headquarters in Novi Sad, in the Croatian and Bosnian directions, and the rest, with headquarters in Nis, Kraljevo and Vran, surround the border with the Kosovo separatists. In Nis - and the headquarters of the command of the land army. An artillery brigade of the Serbian army is also stationed there, with a mixed MLRS division (128mm MLRS M-77 "Ogan", an analogue of the "Grad", and heavy 262mm MLRS M-87 "Orkan-2" with a range of up to 70 km), as well as 2 howitzer towed (152mm M-84 "Nora", a system approximately at the level of "Msta-B" 2A65) and 2 cannon towed divisions (M-46/84). The Special Forces Brigade of the Serbian Army is the most trained formation, its units are deployed in Belgrade, Pancevo (in the autonomous Vojvodina) and in Nis, in the south. It consists of the counter-terrorist battalion "Falcons", the military police special forces battalion "Cobra", the 63rd paratrooper battalion and the 72nd special intelligence battalion "Commando". These units have recently been regularly conducting joint exercises with colleagues from Russia and Belarus - with paratroopers and special forces. They are very well equipped, although the use, along with the new "Zastava" and G-36, looks strange (would buy a SCAR or HK-416/417 if there is a lot of extra money).
In total, the Serbian army has 212 M-84 tanks of various modifications, 13 T-72M1 tanks, and 68 tanks of these types are in long-term storage. In general, the tank fleet is quite numerically at the level of the European degraded "old" NATO armies of the first magnitude, but the saturation of the army with tanks and armored vehicles is higher than them - the Serbian army is smaller than, say, the French SV, and the heavy equipment is the same.
Modernization of the M-84 / M-84A in different versions, up to obtaining a machine similar to our T-90 mod. 1992 - this is the M-84AB1, unfortunately, either did not start, or insignificant quantities were modernized and much more modestly. So, recently at the parade, in the troops and at exhibitions, another modernization of the M-84AS1 was lit up with a remote sensing system similar to the outdated "Kontakt-1", lattice screens, a remotely controlled anti-aircraft turret and other changes. It is known that in the near future Russia will deliver a little more than 30 T-72B3 tanks to Serbia, among other military and special equipment and weapons (30 BRDM-2, 6 MiG-29 fighters, etc.). In fact, this is a battalion set of a tank regiment, if in our opinion, but the Serbs have their own states. What is this modification of the T-72B3, model of 2011 or 2016, which is now called the T-72B3 with UBKh (with improved combat characteristics - with a new MTO, a set of DZ "Relikt" on the sides, an additional mounted DZ and elements of "Relikt" in old modules of the NKDZ "Contact-5") - unknown. But it is known that the Serbs will use these tanks in the tank biathlon this year, and there we will see what they were given. The T-72B3, even an early model, is in any case much stronger than the M-84 in any version - a new, more accurate and faster stabilizer, a new 2A46M5 (5.1) gun, a perfect multi-channel thermal imaging sight PNM Sosna-U, automatic target tracking, new ammunition (but the Serbs will not be given them), and the protection is also much better.
Serbian motorized infantry is armed with 550 BMP M-80A (about 320 vehicles in service in 8 battalions of 40 vehicles each, the rest in reserve) - Yugoslav-designed vehicles armed with Malyutka ATGMs and 20mm M-55 cannons. It is planned to bring 220 of these vehicles to the M-80AV1 level by 2020, such vehicles have already been shown at parades, they are armed with a 30mm cannon, new Serbian-designed ATGMs, have a new FCS and enhanced armor.
A very good wheeled fighting vehicle, the Lazar armored personnel carrier (in honor of Prince Lazar Khrebelyanovich, who, by the way, died in the battle with the Turks in 1389 on Kosovo Field in 1), was developed and is being supplied. and "Lazar-2". The first of them is a 3x6 MRAP weighing 6-16 tons (with different protection options), the second is a classic, but non-floating, armored personnel carrier 28x8 weighing 8 tons, the third is an even heavier vehicle weighing 28 tons with different combat modules, incl. with 32mm machine gun or 12.7mm 30A2 cannon or ATGM. The vehicles have protection from Level 42 STANAG-2 in the basic configuration up to Level 4569 in the side and Level 4 in the front projection in the maximum configuration (that is, quite worthy - 5mm machine gun in a circle and in the forehead - 14.5mm BPS). But there are still few of these machines, a few dozen, although more than 25 have been ordered. And their design has not yet been worked out, they say that they are assembled piece by piece and many machines have differences even among themselves, that is, so far this is a pilot production.
There are also hundreds of three different wheeled and tracked lightly armored vehicles, including both locally produced BOV VP, BOV M11, new light MRAP BOV M16, and Soviet - BRDM-2, BTR-50, MTLBu, BTR-60P. The Serbian infantry and motorized infantry have very decent equipment (although the equipment is mostly outdated, but it will do for their tasks), they are well equipped and decently trained.
The artillery fleet includes: 88 MLRS of types M-94, M-87, M-77 and LRVSM Morava (new modular two-caliber MLRS); 100 self-propelled guns, including 30 155mm wheeled automated "Nora" B-52, as well as 2S1 "Gvozdika"; 72 towed 152mm and 130mm guns (another 300 D-30s in reserve), mortars.
Also in Serbia there is such a structure as the gendarmerie - the successor of the PJP - special police units that successfully operated against Kosovo terrorists during the 1999 war. and before her. Of course, it is much smaller than the PZHP units in terms of numbers (less than 4000 people), but the personnel are well trained specifically in counter-terror, the fight against irregular formations and are well equipped, although the equipment and weapons, of course, are light - armored cars, jeeps with machine guns and light mortars, trucks.
I must say that for a small country, Serbia has a fairly good defense industry - the legacy of Yugoslavia, which the "democratic" authorities failed to completely break even together with Brussels. The Serbs cannot produce tanks - the Croats remained with the plant, but the components for the M-84 were made mainly in Serbia, so the Croats do not have the possibility of production. But they can also modernize and repair - yes, produce self-propelled guns, artillery systems, light armored vehicles, ammunition, small arms, light aircraft and UAVs. I must say that the Serbs have a number of very interesting developments that have few analogues in the world. And, although they were developed mainly with the money of foreign customers, their appearance in the arsenal of Serbia is very likely - remember how at one time we had a "Tiger" or ZRPK "Pantsir-S", created in the "saints" for some whom the 90s.
We are talking about a self-propelled long-range over-the-horizon ATGM ALAS, created with the money of the UAE - a system on the Nimr automobile chassis (the Emirati relative of our "Tiger"), with 6 heavy subsonic ATGMs with telethermal imaging cameras and manual guidance over a fiber-optic cable from a height of 200-500m, the target is attacked into the roof. Such a principle was once developed by the French in their "Polifem" system, it is used on the Israeli Spike system and not only there, but is quite rare in the world. The range of the ALAS-A missile is announced at 25 km, perhaps there will be a version of ALAS-B with a range of 60 km and a light anti-ship missile flying at 5 m in height. The downside of these missiles can be considered considerable dimensions for ATGMs and low speed, which makes them a good target for air defense, while the pluses are high noise immunity and a long range. ALAS is in trials, which are expected to be completed soon. There is also an adjustable ground-based glide bomb (!) of the Koshava-1 and Koshava-2 variants, which are being developed by order, probably from Pakistan, launched from the same containers as ALAS. In fact, "Koshava-1" (it's not a cat, it's such a dry wind in Serbia that's what they call it) is a planning bomb with a TV / IR seeker, weighing 248kg, with a warhead of 100kg, but with a solid propellant accelerator weighing 61kg. After the start and separation of the booster, the device plans from a height to the target at a speed of about 200 m / s. Enough interesting weapon and inexpensive, for local wars. The Serbs even demonstrated these systems to the leadership of our Defense Ministry, perhaps trying to interest them, being themselves interested in our technologies. But in general, there is something to cooperate with the Serbian military-industrial complex, regardless of whether there will be any military complications in the region or not.
So, in Russia, the Klevok-Germes ultra-long-range air defense system, although with much more advanced guidance systems, much more powerful warheads, with supersonic and much less noticeable ATGMs and a range of up to 100 km, is still being tested, with the exception of the aviation version. But it is much more difficult and more expensive.
In general, at the local Balkan level, the Serbian Armed Forces and the military industry are quite high, and there are military capabilities for solving the Kosovo problem. Especially since the "police forces" and "Security Forces" of Kosovo opposing them, with a total strength of less than 5 thousand people. they do not have heavy weapons, they are armed with a maximum of armored cars, grenade launchers and mortars. But do not flatter yourself that even without a direct clash with KFOR, local militants will not have MANPADS, ATGMs and other useful things. It is possible that there is already both, imported by the Americans in advance. There was also information that some of the militants from Syria were transferred specifically to Kosovo. And the Syrian fighters have considerable combat experience that the Serbian military does not have. Which, of course, can complicate things. But the main thing that can complicate the solution of some tasks in Kosovo, limited or maximum, for the Serbian army is the lack of will on the part of the leadership, which is trying to stay on the "two-vector" model of development, although it is known that an attempt to sit on two chairs ends in a repulsed "fifth point" .
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