Serbia has purchased air defence system elements from Hungary for the 2K12 KUB, which was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, but in the 2000s, the Hungarian and Polish defence industries jointly modernized it. Another military equipment deal concluded between Hungary and Serbia in January.
Serbia is buying elements for the 2K12 KUB air defence system from Hungary, according to the Serbian website Srbija Danas. The report states that these are RStON 1S91M target detection and tracking radar stations, which suffered the most from the mass strikes of AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles during the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999. Their procurement is necessary for activating the existing 2K12 KUB missile systems of the Serbian air defence. The Serbian Army maintains three KUB-M classes within the 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade, stationed in Újvidék (Novi Sad), Kragujevac, and Niš. The Serbian army is planning to establish a new unit in Kraljevo, which is why there is a need to procure used radio-electronic vehicles.
The KUB was the first Soviet-developed, semi-active homing surface-to-air missile system to be deployed, intended to provide air defence for mechanized divisions, closely accompanying them. According to the portal’s information, the air defence system performed excellently in 1973 in the Middle East in destroying low-flying combat aircraft, so it was placed on the procurement list of the Yugoslav People’s Army, and in 1975, the first units arrived in the country. The KUB weapon system has been in service in Hungary since the late 1970s, and some of the equipment was jointly modernized by the Hungarian and Polish defence industries between 2001 and 2002. Self-propelled reconnaissance and target-tracking stations, as well as launching pads, underwent life extension and development.
Recently, Serbia also purchased 26 BTR-80A armoured infantry fighting vehicles from our country. It turned out that Hungary acquired more than half of these combat vehicles in the 1990s, but they no longer meet Hungary’s long-term defence needs, so a small portion of them was sold by the defence leadership.
The sale is part of the modernization of the Hungarian military. Last October, the first two batteries of the NASAMS air defence missile system were handed over in Győr. The manufacturer will deliver four more NASAMS batteries and the technical equipment of a reserve unit by the summer of 2024. In addition, the delivery and commissioning of Israeli ELM 2084 multifunctional radars are underway, representing the ‘eyes’ of the well-known Israeli Iron Dome system.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/Srbija Danas
