05 July 2021

by Igor Bozinovski

The Serbian Armed Forces (SAF) used new military equipment during exercise ‘Munjeviti Udar (Lightning Strike) 2021′, which was held on 15–27 June. More than 15,000 troops were involved in the exercise that was held at eight training areas throughout Serbia.

Two Serbian H145M helicopters firing S-8KOM 80 mm rockets from indigenously-developed L80-07 rocket pods during exercise ‘Munjeviti Udar (Lightning Strike) 2021′ held on 15-27 June. (Serbian MoD)

A new version of the Zastava Terenska Vozila (Terrain Vehicles, TERVO) M-20 6×6 mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) armoured fighting vehicle was unveiled at the exercise. The vehicle now features add-on armour for better ballistic protection but its transport compartment no longer has firing ports and side doors. There are three bullet-proof windows on each side of the vehicle, including one each for the driver and commander doors, and a single side-opening door instead of the pair of doors in the rear part of the M-20 prototype.

Also debuting was the Fabrika Automobila Priboj (FAP) BOV-OT M-21 4×4 armoured personnel carrier, designed to accommodate a driver, commander, and eight soldiers. The vehicle has a 1,500 kg payload capacity and is equipped with a stabilised remote-controlled weapon station with a 12.7 mm machine gun. It is powered by a new 280 hp engine with an automatic gearbox producing a maximum speed of 110 km/h.

T-72B1MS White Eagle main battle tanks (MBTs) donated by Russia and locally developed and produced Mali (Little) Miloš unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) armed with two M80 Zolja (Wasp) disposable one-shot 64 mm rocket-propelled grenades each were seen live firing for the first time.

Prototypes of locally modernised M-84AS1 and M-84AS2 MBTs were noted with special coatings to reduce their infrared signatures.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/serbia-exercises-with-new-military-equipment

The Serbian Armed Forces (SAF) used new military equipment during exercise ‘Munjeviti Udar (Lightnin…