Serbia Holds Large Live-Fire Joint Action 2020 Military Drills - Defense Ministry

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2020) The Serbian armed force held on Saturday a large live-fire Joint Action 2020 military exercises in the country's southwestern Pester plateau region, the Serbian Defense Ministry said.

Nearly 2,800 servicemen, over 150 combat and non-combat vehicles and 40 aircraft took part in the tactical drills. The military event was attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin and Chief of the General Staff Milan Mojsilovic, among other senior officials.

"For the first time in 20 years, the [Russian-made] MiG-29 was deployed against ground targets with S-8 missiles ... there were also Mi-35 combat helicopters armed with radio-controlled ATAKA missiles and Mi-17V5 helicopters, which used S-8 unguided missiles," the ministry said in a statement.

The Chinese-made CH-92A drones and the European Airbus H145M helicopters were also demonstrated during the drills.

Earlier this month, Vucic confirmed that Belgrade was considering the possibility and was in talks with Ankara on the acquisition of Bayraktar TB2 combat drones. Serbia also considers new purchases of Russian weapons after acquiring four Russian Mi-35 helicopters.

Serbia is the largest importer of Russian weapons and military equipment in Europe. Earlier this year, the country bought seven Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters from Russia and also received six MiG-29 fighter jets and 10 BRDM-2MS armored personnel carriers as a gift. Belgrade also purchased Pantsir-S1 air defense missile systems from Russia.

Vucic had said earlier that Serbia wanted to have the Russian S-400 air defense system as part of its armed forces, but cannot yet afford it.