On July 13, Serbian Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin visited the plants of the factory “Complex Combat Systems” in Velika Plana, and the occasion for the visit was recently signed a framework agreement for equipping of the Serbian Armed Forces with the 8x8 armored fighting vehicles Lazar-3 and self-propelled howitzers 155mm Nora B-52 M15.
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Milosh BOV M16 4x4 multi-purpose armored personnel carriers in the foreground. Nora B-52K1 self-propelled howitzer in the background. (Picture source: Serbian MoD)
During today’s visit, apart from familiarisation with the degree of implementation of the agreement for equipping the Serbian Armed Forces with those complex combat systems, Minister Vulin was also informed about the progress made in the framework of training on mastering welding technologies for the workers from the newly opened factory for metal machining within “Complex Combat Systems Ltd.” near Kuršumlija. The workers will put their knowledge to use for the production of armored fighting vehicles 8x8 Lazar-3 and 4x4 Milosh.
As Minister Vulin pointed out, the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces would always and foremost purchase the products of the national defense industry. The Serbian Armed Forces have procured a significant quantity of Noras and the Ministry of Defence has provided sufficient funds for the second tranche of 155mm Nora B52.
This year, the Defense Ministry has contracted the second tranche of Nora howitzers. It is expected that the third tranche will be contracted in this quarter, which would conclude the first phase of equipping the Serbian Armed Forces with this self-propelled weapons, Miloradović said and, regarding the Lazar armored personnel carrier, the second tranche of those vehicles would be delivered in the course of the year.
Another tranche is expected to be contracted by the end of the year, and that is a greater framework agreement and its duration is going to be a bit longer. All upgrades that have been done on that system in the meantime are being implemented on those that will be delivered to the armed forces. Also, this factory is where the final assembly is done of the armored fighting vehicle 4x4 Milosh and where the final tests are carried out for the purpose of introducing it in the Serbian Armed Forces. One more test remains to be done, while other tests have been conducted, and as it is known the Technical Testing Centre rather rigorously tests weapons, especially such complex systems that are expected to result in significant advancement of capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces. We expect this process to be finalized within a month and it is planned to contract the first series of the vehicle Milosh in the course of this year, Assistant Minister for Material Resources Nenad Miloradović stressed.
According to Director of the factory “Complex Combat Systems” Ognjen Oliverić, this visit was an opportunity to present the ongoing production in the factory plants and to visit the workers who have come from the plant of that factory in Kuršumlija to attend training in the locksmith-welding plant in Velika Plana. At this moment, the plant is producing main metal components for the projects Nora and Lazar for the Serbian Armed Forces. President of Velika Plana municipality Igor Matković spoke about the importance of that factory for the municipality and reminded that President Aleksandar Vučić had opened that factory in 2012 and promised that it would be built in four phases.
The visit was also attended by State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Bojan Jocić, Director of SDPR Yugoimport, Jugoslav Petković and representatives of the local self-government.
Lazar-3
The Lazar-3 is the latest generation of 8x8 APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier) in the Lazar vehicle family. The LAZAR 3 was unveiled in February 2017 during the defense exhibition IDEX 2017 which was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Lazar is available in IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) variant used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct fire support with a 30mm automatic cannon and anti-tank guided missiles.
Nora B-52 M15
The Nora B-52K1 is a 155mm 52 caliber 8x8 self-propelled howitzer designed and developed by the Serbian Defence Company YugoImport. The Nora-B52 K1 truck-mounted artillery system is an upgraded version of basic weapon Nora-B52 KE. This artillery vehicle iis fully integrated into AFCCS (Artillery Fire Command and Control System) for battlefield observation, target acquisition, data transfer, ballistic computation and fire command instructions transfer. The Nora B-52K1 I can be ready to fire the first round in less than 60 sec and leave its firing position in the same time. The gun system is able to fire at a maximum rate of fire of 4 rounds/min.
Milosh BOV M16
The Milosh BOV M16 4x4 is a multi-purpose armored vehicle fully developed and produced by the Serbian state-owned defense company Yugoimport SDPR. It was unveiled for the first time at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in February 2017.
Milosh BOV M16 4x4 multi-purpose armored personnel carriers (Picture source: Serbian MoD)
