Serbia looks to join Spanish surveillance drone program

MILAN — Serbian officials have confirmed that the country, one of the largest military drone operators in the Balkans, is looking to join the Airbus-led surveillance drone program SiRTAP, already planned to be acquired by Spain and Colombia.

During a recent guest appearance on a national television station, Serbian Assistant Minister of Defense for Material Resources Nenad Miloradovic confirmed that the country is exploring industrial cooperation opportunities with Airbus for Belgrade to partake in the effort.

The project, led by Airbus Spain, aims to produce a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle designed for intelligence gathering and surveillance. Although the drone is currently still in a pre-design phase, the Spanish MoD recently approved funds nearing $542 million from its defense budget to invest into the program and is looking to acquire a total of 27 SiRTAPs.

Serbia has previously signaled interest in the program, but it remains too early to tell in what capacity it would be joining the initiative.

“Serbia has experience with producing its own Pegaz combat drone and now operating the CH Chinese series [CH-92 and CH-95] as well,” Peter Voinovich, editor-in-chief of Serbian aviation news portal TangoSix, told Defense News. “Hence, some capabilities are there. This could possibly be a joint venture for manufacturing and export but, naturally for Serbia to be one of the prospective customers [of SiRTAP].”

The Serbian Ministry of Defense could not be reached for comment.

At the Madrid Feria Internacional de Defensa y Seguridad (FEINDEF) exhibition held in May, Airbus officials noted that although the ambition was to produce 90% of SiRTAP’s components in Spain , due to the fast-track of the program, they may have to go with non-Spanish suppliers in some instances.

Cost is expected to play into those decisions, as one of the drone’s premises is that it will be affordable for air forces with lower budgets wishing to gain advanced capabilities.

The collapsible design of SiRTAP drones implies that troops will ultimately be able to transport it by air in transport aircraft such as the C-295, which Serbia has contracted Airbus for two models to be delivered later this year.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——塞尔维亚官员证实，该国是巴尔干地区最大的军用无人机运营商之一，正寻求加入由空客牵头的监视无人机项目SiRTAP，该项目此前已计划由西班牙和哥伦比亚采购。

塞尔维亚国防部负责物资资源的助理部长内纳德·米洛拉多维奇最近在国家电视台做客时证实，该国正在探索与空客公司开展工业合作的机会，以便贝尔格莱德能够参与其中。

该项目由空客西班牙公司牵头，旨在研发一款用于情报搜集和监视的战术无人机。尽管该无人机目前仍处于预设计阶段，但西班牙国防部近期已批准从国防预算中拨款近5.42亿美元用于该项目，并计划采购共计27架SiRTAP无人机。

塞尔维亚此前已表示对该计划感兴趣，但现在判断它将以何种身份加入该计划还为时过早。

塞尔维亚航空新闻门户网站TangoSix的总编辑彼得·沃伊诺维奇告诉《防务新闻》：“塞尔维亚拥有自主研发的‘飞马’（Pegaz）战斗无人机的经验，目前也在使用中国的CH系列无人机（CH-92和CH-95）。因此，塞尔维亚具备一定的能力。这或许可以是一个合资生产和出口项目，但塞尔维亚自然会成为（SiRTAP的）潜在客户之一。”

记者未能联系到塞尔维亚国防部置评。

在 5 月份举行的马德里国际国防与安全展览会 (FEINDEF) 上，空客公司官员指出，尽管他们的目标是在西班牙生产 SiRTAP 90% 的零部件，但由于该项目的快速推进，在某些情况下，他们可能不得不选择非西班牙供应商。

成本预计将会影响这些决定，因为无人机的前提之一是，预算较低的空军如果想要获得先进能力，也能负担得起。

SiRTAP 无人机的可折叠设计意味着部队最终将能够使用 C-295 等运输机进行空运，塞尔维亚已与空客公司签订合同，订购两架该型飞机，将于今年晚些时候交付。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。