Minister Stefanović: A New Step in Technological Progress for Our Armed Forces

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Dr. Nebojša Stefanović attended the testing of armament and military equipment of domestic development, as well as operational testing of the Pegaz unmanned combat aerial vehicle and portable reconnaissance assets at the Pasuljanske Livade range.

We had successful target engagement, with coordination between UAVs, drones, and artillery, and we also demonstrated that together with our partners we have mastered the production of the Pegaz. We have achieved significant technological progress and are on the verge of being able to boast that we are in this segment at the level of the world's most advanced armed forces, said Minister Stefanović after completing the day's testing.

The Minister was accompanied by Assistant Minister for Material Resources Dr. Nenad Miloradović, Chief of the Minister of Defense's Cabinet Colonel Stevan Kotarlić, Head of the Defense Technologies Directorate Colonel Slavko Rakić, and Director of the Military Technical Institute Colonel Dr. Bojan Pavković.

We had the opportunity to see how artillery fire is guided with the help of UAVs, how corrections are made, and how much we have advanced technologically so that now we can successfully observe targets we engage at much greater distances — at 40 kilometers — with UAVs, assign coordinates, and have artillerymen successfully and accurately hit those targets without any other assistance.

For the first time we could also see the engagement of the Pegaz UCAV, which showed that together with our partners we have mastered its production, and I hope that during this year we will enter serial production that will significantly strengthen our defense capabilities, said Minister Stefanović.

The Minister of Defense witnessed that today at the range we also had firing from our modernized M-84 AS2 tank and from the PASARS system, and that moving targets were also successfully engaged — every target being hit dead center.

What lies ahead is the training of our crews to fully utilize these new technological capabilities, but I want to thank all the people from the Material Resources Sector, the Military Technical Institute, the Second Brigade of the Land Forces, and everyone else who participated in this, because it is truly evident that we have made a new step in technological progress and that our armed forces today are on the verge of being able to boast that we are in this segment at the level of the world's most advanced armed forces.

Testing conducted at the range included live-fire testing of the Pegaz UCAV armed with laser-guided missiles, M-84 AS2 tank firing at moving targets at long ranges, testing of a new fire control system integrated on PASARS for engaging ground targets, the new Lazar 3M/30 armored combat vehicle, and testing of sniper pair operations using the newly developed long-range 12.7mm rifle and .338 Lapua Magnum sniper rifle at long ranges with additional equipment for calculating parameters for precise aiming point adjustment.