Russia is ready to offer the sale of S-300 air defense missile system to Serbia 11201163

Defence & Security News - Serbia
 
Russia is ready to offer the sale of S-300 air defense missile system to Serbia.
Serbia is interested in developing military and technical cooperation with Russia, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in Belgrade on Monday, January 11, 2016.
     
Serbia is interested in developing military and technical cooperation with Russia, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in Belgrade on Monday, January 11, 2016. A S-300PMU2 TEL-vehicle at the MAKS Airshow 2003 near Moscow, Russia.
     
Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic received Monday, januray 11, 2016, First Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Andrey Boytsov and Russian representatives of the Serbia-Russia intergovernmental committee on military and technical cooperation.

At the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation, participants discussed equipping of the Serbian Armed Forces with arms and military equipment of Russian production, improvement of capacities for maintenance of aircraft platforms and air defence systems of Russia origin in the Republic of Serbia, as well as the promotion of cooperation between defence industry enterprises of the two countries.

"Serbia will not ask for any concessions, although we have reasons to expect much from Russia," the Serbian president said, noting he was surprised with the fact that neighboring Croatia is holding talks on purchasing ballistic missile defense systems from Norway.

Rogozin assured Nicolic that he would fulfill Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to "study and figure out the Serbian needs" as soon as possible. "Dmitry Rogozin said the Russian president highly assessed of relations between the two countries," the press service of the Serbian president said.

"We need to take additional efforts to enhance military, technical and economic relations," Rogozin said.

Dmitry Rogozin said in Belgrade that "we are ready to directly support our Balkan ally" in the purchase of weapons, including the S-300 surface-to-air missile system.

Serbia and Balkan rival Croatia, a NATO member, have recently clashed over alleged Croatian plans to acquire long-range missiles that could strike Serbia.

The S-300 is a family of Soviet-made surface-to-air defense missile system produced by the Russian Defense Company Almaz-Antey. The S-300 system was first deployed by the Soviet Union in 1979, designed for the air defence of large industrial and administrative facilities, military bases, and control of airspace against enemy strike aircraft.

The latest variant, the S-300PMU2 (NATO code SA-20B Gargoyle B) is an upgrade of the S-300PMU-1 with range extended to 195 km with the introduction of the 48N6E2 missile.

The S-300PMU2 Favorit can engage targets flying from 10 m to 27 km above the surface at a speed of up to 10,000 km/h. It is claimed that it has a kill ratio ranging from 0.8 to 0.93 against aircraft and from 0.8 to 0.98 against Tomahawk-class cruise missiles. The S-300PMU2 can engage up to 6 targets simultaneously while providing guidance for up to 12 missiles - two missiles per target ensuring target kill.