According to the official website of the Serbian Ministry of Defense, on June 28, local time, at the "Vidovdan Day" commemoration event in Kruševac, the capital of Rapena Oblast, the Serbian armed forces statically displayed a series of main weapons and equipment, including the first public display of the Chinese-made Hongqi-17AE (HQ-17AE) short-range air defense system.
The central speaker is the Prime Minister of Serbia, Miloš Vučević, in the front row, in military uniform, in the front row, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Milan Moiselovic, and the second from the left, the Minister of Defence of Serbia, Bratislav Gacić (Ministry of Defence of Serbia)
According to reports, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, Defense Minister Bratislav Gacić and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Colonel-General Milan Moiselović came to the scene to attend the event. The weapons on display include the M-84AS main battle tank, the BVP M-80AB infantry fighting vehicle, the NORA B-52 M21 vehicle-mounted self-propelled gun, the "Pegasus" UAV and other Cypriot domestic equipment, as well as the Chinese-made FK-3 medium and long-range surface-to-air missile system and the HQ-17AE short-range air defense system.
The Serbian Ministry of Defense said that most of these are combat equipment recently received by the Serbian armed forces and are only now being shown in public for the first time, such as the HQ-17AE short-range air defense system from China, which is capable of destroying enemy air targets at short and medium ranges, has a fast reaction time, and can also fire on the move. In his speech, Serbian Prime Minister Vucevic congratulated the new equipment of the armed forces, saying: "For the first time, we showed the equipment purchased not so long ago, that is, the new HQ-17AE short-range air defense system purchased from China, which no one had ever seen in person before, except for members of the air defense forces". He also said that the HQ-17AE can ensure a better defense of the Serbian skies and is perfectly integrated with the "most powerful weapon" FK-3 anti-aircraft missile system.
HQ-17AE on display (Ministry of Defense of Serbia)
FK-3 on display (Ministry of Defense of Serbia)
Serbia's "New Yugoslavia" news agency (Tanjug) said in a report that the HQ-17AE air defense system purchased by Serbia can simultaneously launch attacks at four targets at a distance of 15 kilometers and an altitude of 8 kilometers (one says 10 kilometers), and the report of the aviation news portal Tango Six also mentioned that the Serbian armed forces also announced the specifications of some weapons and equipment at the demonstration site in Kruševac today, Among them, the HQ-17AE system, in addition to the 6F-17E combat launch vehicle, also has an ammunition transport and loading vehicle based on the Shaanxi Automobile SX2306 8×8 truck chassis, model 6R-17E, which can carry an additional group (8) of spare ammunition for the launch vehicle, the report said that the system is likely to be used to protect the FK-250 medium and long-range surface-to-air missile launch positions of the Serbian 3rd anti-aircraft missile brigade.
The HQ-17AE system was also showcased as a munitions transport and loading vehicle (Tango Six)
At the "Partner 2023" defense exhibition held in Belgrade last year, a series of missiles and air defense weapons, including the HQ-17AE, were displayed at the booth of the China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CPMIEC), and during the "Belt and Road" international summit forum in October last year, the mainland also presented the HQ-17AE missile launcher model to the visiting Serbian defense minister. This was followed by constant news that Serbia would purchase HQ-17AE systems.
Model of HQ-17AE at the booth of China National Precision Machinery Import & Export Corporation (Tango Six)
At the "Belt and Road" International Summit Forum in November last year, the mainland presented Serbia with a HQ-17AE model, a cloisonné craft porcelain vase and a Huawei MATE X5 folding screen smartphone as a national gift (data map)
On January 30 this year, Serbian President Vučić officially stated that "HQ-17 will soon be seen" when he inspected the Topcid military camp and in an interview with reporters. On Monday (June 24), Vučić announced in his speech that the Serbian Armed Forces would demonstrate a new air defense system in Kruševac, and at that time there was speculation in the Serbian media that the new air defense system mentioned was likely to refer to the HQ-17AE, and earlier on June 11, the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Moiselovic, inspected the 250th Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade (equipped with FK-3), and the portal Tango Six passed the "Frame Inspection" The Serbian Ministry of Defense first made a speculative report that the Serbian armed forces had been equipped with HQ-17AE, which was also the earliest report that Serbia had received HQ-17AE.
According to the report photo above, Tango Six has installed HQ-17AE in Serbia through public information (comparison picture produced by Tango Six website)
Source | Observer.com