Serbia Negotiating with France, UK, Others for Fighter jets, to Use MiG-29s till End-of-Service

While Serbia is negotiating with France for Rafale and with the U.K., for Typhoon aircraft besides “everyone else,” it will use its modernized fleet of 14 MiG-29 aircraft till the end of their service life, Serbian Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović commented.

“We need three types of aircraft. First of all, the fighter with fighter-bomber capabilities, such as the MiG-29 that we own, fighter-bomber aircraft, such as our "Eagle", and we need trainer aircraft that can be armed, which our "Super Seagull" is responsible for today - said Stefanović, noting that our air force resources would be worn out over the next 10 to 12 years,” he said in a local television interview on Saturday.

"We are negotiating with France about Rafale jets and we are negotiating with the British about Typhoon jets. We are also negotiating with everyone else about new and used aircraft because we want to get the best offer."

Earlier, its was reported that the Serbian Air Force had recommended Rafale jets from France but the government was undecided. The Minister's current comments have thrown open Serbia's fighter procurement program to several manufacturers.

And what I find interesting and what I talked to our Air Force experts about, are the features that a potential partner offers us. If Great Britain offers us an aircraft whose characteristics are similar to those of a Rafale, but is armed with a missile that has twice the range - that is a huge advantage for the Air Force. Being able to fire a missile at 300 km, instead of 120 or 150 km is a huge advantage. If a partner has such a weapon, but is not ready to sell it to us - that should also be taken into account. All these factors are taken into account - said Minister Stefanović.

The cost of procurement, maintenance and repair, weapons and ammunition, spare parts, the prospects of modernization in two, five, 15, 20 years’ time. Everything is analyzed. The capabilities of our military airport are also considered. There are aircraft with similar characteristics which have been rejected due to their sensitivity. According to our experts, being so sensitive, they might require more frequent overhauls and maintenance, and that would not pay off - said Minister Stefanović.

On MiG-29 fleet and Mi-35 helicopters
 
Minister Stefanović said the Serbian air force would continue to equip, modernize and repair its fleet of 14 MiG-29 jets.

"We intend to make full use of them until the end of their service life, because they are good fighters, i.e. fighter-bombers. After all, over the past several years, we have managed to modernize them for the first time and make them successful in engaging ground targets, in addition to the main role they play in protecting our skies. Thanks to President Vučić, today we have 14 MiG-29s that are ready for action and we are proud of that," said the Minister.