Faced with the increasing tensions between planet powers, Serbia intensified military cooperation with China by acquiring advanced drones and air defence systems, indicating a deepening strategical convergence.
The purchases of arms by Serbia in fresh years have shown an increasingly diverse supply strategy. In addition to Russian MiG-29 fighters and French Rafale aircraft, Belgrade has asked Chinese suppliers to supply state-of-the-art systems that are comparatively inexpensive and entail small political risk.
According to the Stockholm global Institute for Peace investigation (SIPRI) from 2020 to 2024 China was liable for 57% of full arms imports to Serbia, ahead of Russia (20%) and France (7.4%).
Although SIPRI did not evidence any fresh supplies of Chinese weapons in 2024, these data reflect ongoing cooperation in erstwhile years, notably the supply of FK-3 mid-range air defence systems that dominate the Serbian arsenal of Chinese origin.
"FK-3 is simply a major acquisition whose value exceeds most another systems acquired over the last 5 years," said Katarina Dokić, an analyst from SIPRI. "China appears to become the leading country from which Serbia imports arms".
According to Dokić, Chinese air defence systems are based on russian and Russian constructions, making them technically compatible with the existing Serbian arsenal of Russian weapons. In the case of drones, Belgrade focuses on technology transfer: cooperation with Chinese creators of the CH-92 model straight contributed to the creation of the Serbian drone “Pegas”, presented in 2022.
Serbian defence minister Bratislava Gasic announced that military cooperation with China would increasingly focus on industrial exchange and home production.
Source: Radio Free Europe
BIS improvement — survey Bulletin
