Airforces

contract. Work on the remaining

four jets was to be completed

two months later, he said.

In Serbia, the MiG-29 ‘affair’

became a major media topic, as

months passed and the aircraft were

still not delivered. In an attempt

to head off some of the criticism

of the Serbian government, the

authorities in Belgrade requested

cosmetic ‘repairs’ to the aircraft,

which had been grounded at

Kubinka since October 2016. As

they were prepared for disassembly

and transport to Serbia, the fighters

were repainted in a Serbian two-

tone grey camouflage by RAC

MiG’s Production Centre No 1 in

the Moscow suburb of Lukhovitsy.

Some other equipment, including

IFF, was removed prior to export.

Fulcrum arrival

In the first week of October

last year, three Volga-Dnepr

An-124 flights, carrying six

MiG-29s provided by the Ministry

of Defence of the Russian

Federation, were unloaded at

due to a lack of funds. The

same year, Serbian authorities

approached Moscow requesting

a donation of MiG-29s, as part of

a broader package that included

surface-to-air missiles. Russia

responded positively and in spring

2016 Serbia was informed it would

receive six MiG-29s, followed by

30 T-72 tanks and 30 modernised

BRDM-2A armoured cars.

Following lengthy negotiations

with Russian state company

Rosoboronexport and several

political interventions to improve

the conditions of the deal for

Serbia, two contracts were signed

in December 2016. These defined

the work required to adapt six

ex-Russian MiG-29s to Serbian

standards, and to overhaul all ten

aircraft. The Russian Air Force

selected six surplus examples,

but technical support is covered

by a commercial contract with

Rosoboronexport. Also included

are additional RD-33 engines,

spare parts support and a

service life extension from 30

to 35 and, later, 40 years.

Preparations for the arrival of the

aircraft were accompanied by a

significant public relations campaign.

State-friendly media ran dozens of

front pages announcing the MiGs’

arrival. While this coverage was

strongly pro-Russian, negotiations

on the details of the contract

extended for several months amid

legal and technical questions.

The authorities in Belgrade

requested that the airframes first

be transported to Serbia and that

work be carried out at Batajnica

as a co-operative venture between

RAC MiG and the RV i PVO’s

‘Moma Stanojlović’ overhaul plant.

Back in December 2016, Vučić

publicly said that the Russian offer

included RAC MiG carrying out

work on the jets before the first

two examples entered service,

nine months after activation of the

Changing

fortunes

ast year saw some

significant progress for the

Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i

protivvazduhoplovna odbrana (RV

i PVO, Serbian Air Force and Air

Defence). It received six MiG-29

fighters donated by Russia, launched

modernisation work on the Orao

attack aircraft and procured six

Airbus Helicopters H145Ms – four

attack and two utility versions.

In the past, the RV i PVO has

insisted on only acquiring new-build

fighters as part of its modernisation

strategy. During autumn 2010 the

defence ministry received responses

to requests for information (RFIs)

detailing the F-16C/D, MiG-29M2,

Rafale, Su-30, Typhoon and the

Chinese FC-17. Saab did not

submit a bid involving its Gripen. At

the start of the following year, the

preparation procedure for the tender

was suspended. RAC MiG’s offer

of ten ex-Hungarian MiG-29s had

meanwhile been rejected, since only

new aircraft were being considered.

In 2012 the Serbian Progressive

Party won the parliamentary election.

Its leader, Aleksandar Vučić (at the

time first vice-president and minister

of defence, and now president of

the republic) showed great interest

in developing and producing arms.

Immediately after assuming office

in August 2012 Vučić travelled to

Moscow to discuss acquiring new

MiG-29M2s. That procurement

attempt was abandoned in 2015

L

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #362 MAY 2018 // 73

Airforces

Intelligence

‘In association with ....’

The Serbian Air Force and Air Defence has

given itself the goal of putting years of crisis

behind it and embarking on the road to

recover y, as Aleksandar Radić explains.