BELGRADE (Serbia), July 16 (SeeNews) – European missile developer and manufacturer MBDA has signed an agreement to deliver Mistral 3 short-range air defence systems to Serbia, the company said on Tuesday.
The contract envisages the acquisition of Mistral missiles, launchers for dismounted soldiers, related equipment and logistics, and the provision of technical and material assistance for the integration of the Mistral missile on the PASARS vehicles of the Serbian armed forces, MBDA said in a statement.
"We are proud that this contract far exceeds just material supplies. Serbia is invited to join as a new member of the Mistral user club and becomes a new partner for MBDA. But above all, this contract is the first milestone of a cooperation that we are going to build together with Serbia whose security objectives are similar to those of France and of the European Union," Eric Beranger, CEO of MBDA, said.
With the order, Serbia becomes the 32nd customer country for the Mistral missile and the 10th country invited to join the Mistral user club, allowing it to benefit from shared user experience and to contribute to the definition of the future developments of the weapon systems based on this missile, MBDA noted.
Mistral 3, the latest generation of the Mistral familiy, features a very high resistance to infrared countermeasures and a capability to engage air targets with a low thermal signature, such as missiles and UAVs.