Radić: By purchasing weapons, Vučić is buying the support of foreign powers

Serbia's decision to purchase weapons from Israeli military giant Elbit Systems is political in nature because, amidst the current crisis in the country, Aleksandar Vučić needs the support of a foreign factor, military analyst Aleksandar Radić said.

The Israeli-based military company Elbit Systems announced last week a $1,64 billion contract to deliver its military equipment to “a European country.” The Times of Israel reports that it has been revealed that the country in question is Serbia.

The contract, signed for five years, includes the sale of long-range missile-artillery systems and a variety of drones, including those for tactical and operational use, the Beta agency reported.

“Intelligence collection and processing systems will also be delivered, along with advanced night reconnaissance systems,” the company said.

"The second group includes, among other things, highly sophisticated ISTAR systems and electronic warfare systems. Capable systems for intelligence collection and processing will also be delivered. In addition, Elbit Systems will deliver a comprehensive military digitalization and network combat solution, based on the latest generation of software and state-of-the-art hardware communications equipment," the statement added.

Radić said that this is the second major contract, while the previous one, also extremely valuable, was signed last year.

"I think that first of all we should look for a political trace in these affairs. Namely, the Israeli government strongly supports Aleksandar Vučić, and he now needs a foreign factor. It is ironic that one of the main propaganda supports among that part of our people that supports Vučić is the creation of paranoia about how foreign factors are undermining the state order through protests. In the sense of 'you don't think that students are organizing themselves'. And the truth is that Vučić is actually buying the favor of relevant foreign powers," Radić told the N1 portal.

The agreement will be analyzed in neighboring countries as a kind of message and threat. But I think we should see this primarily as a discourse by the government that wants to impress its supporters and say "we are the biggest, we are the most capable."

He pointed out that Vučić made a strong strategic turn towards the US and Israel, recalling that on July 15, a conference on the strategic partnership between Serbia, Israel and the US was held in the Parliament.

"There are bilateral exchanges with Israel in the military-technical aspect. Serbia exports military equipment to Israel and exports it via Israel to third countries. On the other hand, Serbia signed two extremely valuable contracts last year, which are almost incomprehensible in value compared to the previous standards of procurement of military equipment for the Serbian Army. The only exception is the 'bursts', but that is an exception above all exceptions," he said.

The contract that Elbit is now boasting about is of such a size that it is likely to arouse great interest in neighboring countries and "a dose of jealousy due to the amount of weapons being purchased," Radić added.

"But it's not about weapons - the most important thing is actually to establish a political connection, political motivation and to notice how foreign support is now being consolidated, probably in the face of the government's offensive against the protests," Radić pointed out.

He recalled that a few days ago, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote a letter of support to Vučić, and stated that the Americans are also showing ambition to provide that support.

"It is clear that Israel's favor has now been paid for," he said.

Radić said that, according to earlier information, multiple-barrel PULS missile launchers have been ordered from Israel.

"The system is modular, it is actually a truck from which you can fire different types of missiles. It is rational to think that a missile with a range of 150 kilometers was chosen for Serbia. This is a means that allows Serbia to reach targets far beyond the current maximum range of Serbian artillery (which is 155 kilometers for 40 mm howitzers, or 50 km for ORKAN multiple rockets)."

The analyst said that this is now three times the reach and that it will be analyzed in neighboring countries as a kind of message and threat.

"But I think we should actually see this primarily as a discourse by the government that wants to impress its supporters and say 'we are the biggest, we are the most capable, the president is the one who is personally responsible for why our army and state are strong,'" Radić said.