Israel and Serbia to Launch Joint Drone Manufacturing Facility in Europe by September

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that Serbia will establish a joint drone manufacturing plant with Israel, with the inauguration scheduled between September 15 and 20. Despite Ukraine's own production capabilities, Serbia chose to collaborate with Israel on this project. The agreement between Israeli defense company Elbit Systems and Serbia spans five years and includes the supply of long-range precision artillery rocket systems and a wide range of unmanned aerial combat systems for intelligence and strike missions, covering operational and tactical ranges, including personal drones.

Elbit will also provide advanced intelligence capabilities such as ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance), COMINT (Communications Intelligence), SIGINT (Signals Intelligence), and electronic warfare systems. Additional provisions include electro-optical systems, night vision equipment, upgrades for combat vehicles, and comprehensive military digitization and battlefield communication solutions based on the latest software and advanced communication hardware.

This deal follows a series of significant Israeli defense exports in recent years, including the $3.5 billion sale of the Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany in 2023, previously the largest sale being the Barak 8 missile systems to India for $1.6 billion in 2017. Israel also recently secured a $3.5 billion air defense system deal with Greece and a $2 billion sale of the Spyder air defense system to Romania earlier this year. The Serbian contract, valued at $1.63 billion, was initially reported last August when the purchasing country was unnamed but later identified as Serbia.