Serbian Armed Forces Capabilities Demonstration “Granite 2023”

Serbian Armed Forces Capabilities Demonstration “Granite 2023”, attended by Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces and President of the Republic Aleksandar Vučić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Miloš Vučević and Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff General Milan Mojsilović, has been held today at Military Airfield “Colonel-Pilot Milenko Pavlović” in Batajnica.  

At Military Airfield in Batajnica, some Air Force and Air Defence and special operations forces capabilities have been presented today, parade of special operations units, flypast by an air echelon, most modern weapons and military equipment of the Serbian Armed Forces, as well as assets developed by our domestic defense industry. 

The demonstration held on the occasion of the Serbian Armed Forces Day was attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Chairwoman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željka Cvijanović, President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, Hungarian Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Serbian Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlić and Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić.

The capabilities demonstration has been assessed as “very good” by Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces who has congratulated all SAF members on their holiday, stressing that that day is marked in memory of the outbreak of the Second Serbian Uprising, which laid the foundations for the modern Serbian statehood in the right sense of the word.

- We have shown today part of our arms, weapons and latest assets. You could see a number of changes, you could also see for the first time the CH-95, for the second time CH-92, and our “Sparrows” had a rather successful firing the other day. We are developing our drones, we ordered and by the end of the year you will be able to see also our drones “Kamikaze” that have already been bought and reserved. We follow carefully and our Military Intelligence Agency and General Staff report me daily on the events in Ukraine and on the ways and assets used to wage that war - said President Vučić. 

Addressing the present, President particularly singled out Pantsir, FK-3, missile artillery, as well as unmanned aerial systems which are of crucial importance. He also stressed the significance of strengthening the forces with modernized IFVs and tanks.

Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces has said that he is exceptionally proud of the Special Forces units.

- You have seen how equipped they are, their uniforms, everything is different when compared to some other times. I am particularly proud of the fact that some 1,700 people applied for 530 positions that we opened. Among the applicants, 4.43 per cent are women, and 95.57 are men. Some would say that the number of applicants from the territory of Belgrade is surprisingly high, but proportionally by the number of inhabitants, the greatest number by far applied from Jablanica region. I congratulate the people from Jablanica and I would like to thank them that together with Toplica and Pčinja they are the ones who defend Serbia the most. To conclude, three times more people have applied. We believe that after a strict process of selection, we will have more than requested number of soldiers, and then we plan the first summon when they will receive their first salaries amounting to 2,000 Euro or higher. Then, all others will see that we are telling the truth and that there is no fraud - said President of Serbia adding that visitors of today’s demonstration had an opportunity to see the flight of 10 MiG-29 and 10 Orao planes, and numerous helicopters, and he took the opportunity to announce the arrival of new helicopters.

- Our armed forces are becoming increasingly stronger, and we will have to continue the manning process, to reach better quality and invest a lot. I am never fully satisfied, but I can express my gratitude for the effort, for always being there to protect and defend Serbia. It is our duty to maintain and protect peace, but you can maintain and protect peace and people only if you have strong armed forces. We will continue developing our armed forces, and I evaluate today’s exercise as “very good” with all my gratitude and congratulations to members of the Serbian Armed Forces – pointed out President Vučić.

The demonstration started with a parachute demo jump performed by members of 63rd Parachute Brigade with flags of the Republic of Serbia and Serbian Armed Forces.

The demonstration further included assault by combat helicopters, landing by special operations forces, resolving the hostage situation, pulling the forces out of the Area of Operation, air support to ground forces, simulation of close air combat and work of the crews of air defense missile systems.

Then, there was a parade of special operations units of the Serbian Armed Forces. The parade involved the sub-echelons of 63rd Parachute Brigade and sub-echelons of special operations battalion “Grifoni” and “Sokolovi” from 72nd Special Operations Brigade. They were followed by sub-echelons of Military Police Special Purpose Detachment “Kobre”, and of the Army Military Police, and sub-echelons of Army reconnaissance units and units of the Training Command.

The continuation of today’s demonstration brought the flypast of air echelon - planes MiG-29, Orao, Supergaleb G-4, then training planes Lasta and Utva 75, combat helicopters Mi-35, helicopters Mi-8, Gamma, H-145 and Gazelle and multipurpose helicopter Mi-17. The flypast of the air echelon ended with attractive hedgehopping flight of two MiG-29 planes.

Today, the public was able to see for the first time an unmanned aerial vehicle “CH-95”. The demonstration featured more than 5,000 members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, about 2,300 pieces of arms and military equipment and over 60 aircraft.

The visitors had the opportunity to see state-of-the-art arms and military equipment the Serbian Armed Forces are equipped with, as well as assets developed by Serbian Defence Industry companies. At Batajnica Airfield, the citizens had the chance to see anti-aircraft systems and assets, radars, tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery weapons and systems, UAVs, small arms, optronics, modern protective, ballistic and camouflage equipment, as well as equipment for special missions.

Judging by its scope and content, it has been the greatest demonstration of arms and military equipment in our country so far.