Serbia has become the latest customer for the Dassault Rafale fighter jet, signing a contract to purchase 12 combat aircraft.
The deal was reached in Belgrade during a meeting between Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Aleksandar Vučić, and signed between Dassault Aviation CEO Éric Trappier and Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gašić.
The Rafale order had already been announced by Vučić in April during a visit to France. The deal is estimated to be worth $3.26 billion.
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The Serbian Air Force is set to replace a dozen Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters with the Rafales, but neither side has revealed when the jets will begin delivery.
The country also has 17 Soko J-22 attack jets, produced during the Yugoslav era between the 1970s and 1990s.
“On behalf of Dassault Aviation and its partners, I would like to thank the Serbian authorities for the confidence they have placed in us by choosing the Rafale, and assure them of our total commitment to making its integration into the Serbian Armed Forces a success. Serbia’s decision to equip itself for the first time with a Dassault aircraft confirms the Rafale’s operational superiority and its proven excellence in serving the sovereign interests of a nation”, declared Éric Trappier.
