TSAMTO, April 2. As reported by the Ministry of Defense of Serbia, Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of Defense Nebojsa Stefanovic on March 20 took part in the signing of the military department with the company Yugoimport-SDPR contract for the purchase of a new batch of BBM "Lazar-3" with a wheel formula of 8x8.
The contract for the delivery of Lazar-3 was signed by Colonel Aleksandar Cakic of the Procurement and Sales Department (Material Resources Sector of the Ministry of Defense) and Deputy Director of Yugoimport-SDPR Aleksandar Lijakovic. The cost of the agreement was 3.7 billion dinars (about 31.6 million euros). The number of ordered BBMs and delivery dates are not disclosed.
According to the Minister of Defense, thanks to this contract, the number of modern armored combat vehicles "Lazar" in the Armed Forces will significantly increase.
Mr Stefanovic also visited the production facilities of Borbeni slozeni sistemi in Velika Plana, where the Lazar and Milos BBMs, as well as the Nora self-propelled howitzers, are manufactured. During the visit, the Minister promised to demonstrate a number of new products of the Serbian military-industrial complex at the Partner exhibition, if the epidemiological situation allows.
According to the Minister of Defense, the Serbian Armed Forces have already received the first batch of the Milos BBM with a 4x4 wheel formula. A new batch of these armored vehicles will be tested in the next few weeks and will be delivered to combat units.
The 155-mm self-propelled howitzer "Nora" is currently being prepared for testing in the United States. Yugoimport-SDPR, among several applicants, received an invitation to present its howitzer for comparative tests. Earlier, Serbia sold B-52 Nora self-propelled howitzers to the Armed Forces of Myanmar, Bangladesh, Kenya and Cyprus.
As reported by TSAMTO, the US Navy intends to conduct comparative tests of self-propelled 155-mm howitzers of a number of leading world manufacturers at the Yuma training ground (Arizona) as part of the project to replace the towed howitzers in service. Each supplier will be responsible for delivering the appropriate 155 mm self-propelled howitzer and providing support during the evaluation period. Based on the results of the assessment, the government will select the proposals that are the most profitable and represent the greatest value for the Armed Forces.
The demonstration ceremony of the first batch of the new Lazar-3 armored combat vehicles with the 8x8 wheel formula adopted by the Serbian Armed Forces took place in December 2018 at the Nikinci training ground. The first six BBMs became part of the 41st Infantry Battalion of the 4th Brigade of the Serbian Land Forces.
A few days ago, the media reported, with reference to the Serbian Ambassador to Moscow, Miroslav Lazanski, that the batch of BBM "Lazar-3" was sold to Turkmenistan.
