Serbia is in talks to buy at least 12 new Rafale fighter jets, as President Aleksandar Vucic said in the context of the “Fire Shield 2022” exercise.

In particular, Serbia is in talks with France and may procure up to 24 Rafale from Dassault Aviation SA, according to a report by Avia Pro.

“We have been negotiating with them for a year to buy 12 new Rafales and we are also negotiating with another country to buy 12 used Rafales,” Vucic said.

The supply of new fighter jets will allow Belgrade to modernize its current fleet, which consists of MiG-21 and MiG-29 aircraft as well as 30 old Yugoslav Soko J-22 Orao and Soko G-4 Super Galeb fighter jets.

Serbia is also seeking to buy Turkish-made Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) Bayraktar TB2, the Serbian President also stated. In fact, Aleksandar Vucic asked the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to supply the UCAVs “urgently”.

“Two days ago, in a conversation with President Erdogan, I got his promise that we could catch up and be able to buy the Turkish Bayraktar before others ordered the drones,” he said. Serbian authorities have decided to buy a batch of 12 UCAV Bayraktar TB2 from Turkey, while Serbia has already received Chinese-made UCAVs Rainbow CH-92A since 2020.

However, it should be noted that Belgrade has not opted for Russian armaments despite its close ties with Russia. 

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