Serbia Will Be The Owner of The Next S-400 In The European Region?

Serbia, like Belarus, has maintained security ties with Russia.

A move rare among former members of the Warsaw Pact and the former Yugoslav states.

Serbia is known to have been modernizing its air defenses since the late 2010s, acquiring MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia and Belarus, as well as the Pantsir-S mobile air defense system from Russia.

Having a small combat aviation force, Serbia has shifted its focus to an effective ground-based air defense system.

Recent reports suggest that Serbia may be able to acquire the S-400 advanced air defense missile system from Russia, as reported by the Bulgarian Military (28/6).

Rumors about Serbia's acquisition of the S-400 surfaced first when the system was used in exercises in Serbia in 2019.

At that time, the S-400 missiles were stationed at the Batajnica base near Belgrade, Serbia, and began live-fire drills from the Slavia Shield.

The Serbian Ministry of Defense stated at the time that air defense drills like this would be routinely carried out, aiming to enhance Russian and Serbian air war cooperation.

The exercise demonstrated the prowess of the S-400, simulating 14 Serbian aircraft acting as enemies and being quickly destroyed by the S-400 system, which fired a total of 26 missiles.

The S-400 missile system has high mobility and multiple radars, giving it excellent situational awareness, even of stealth targets.

The system was developed to counter stealth jets and has a very long range of up to 400 km, twice that of similar Western air defense assets.

However, it is not yet known how many S-400 systems Serbia will acquire.

Given the high cost of this system $500 million is required for a single S-400 regiment.