MILAN, Italy — Amid rising tensions with Kosovo, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s recent order to shoot down all UAVs found in no-fly zones and near military facilities, Iranian officials suggested that Serbia made a formal bid to purchase that country’s drones.

If true, the purchase could make Belgrade the largest military drone operator in the Balkans.

Over the past few years, Serbia’s UAV procurement strategy sought to strike a balance between increased diversification of foreign suppliers and further expanding its own domestic industry

Since becoming the biggest military spender in the Balkans in 2019, the country’s drone fleet has welcomed new arrivals including Chinese-made CH-92As, delivered in June 2020. This greatly increased Serbian air-policing capabilities thanks to its 250 kilometer (155 mile) combat range.

Meanwhile Serbian-made ‘Gavran’ loitering munition and an armed version of its ‘Vrabac’ small drone shown last August and said to be able to carry up to six grenades are being developed.

Displayed at Eurosatory 2022, the Gavran is the first system of its kind to be developed locally. The Serbian technology has a maximum take-off weight of 50 kilograms, can carry payloads up to 15 kilograms while flying at a maximum speed of 120km/h for 30 minutes out to a range approximating 100 kilometers.

As first reported by Janes, it was further conceived to operate in a multiple-drone swarm controlled from a sole command station. The system…