Vučić unveils plans for Serbia’s most powerful army ever

Serbia is entering a new phase of military transformation as President Aleksandar Vučić pledges to build the country’s strongest and most technologically advanced army in its history, raising concerns among neighbours and Western observers over Belgrade’s growing ambitions in the Balkans.

Serbia has embarked on a sweeping overhaul of its armed forces, Vučić announced on Monday during a closed-door meeting of the General Staff College held at the Banjica 2 military base in Belgrade, IBNA reported.

According to Vučić, the country is investing heavily in equipment, digitalization, and structural reform with the goal of creating “the strongest and best-equipped Serbian military force ever.”

This initiative marks a decisive step in Serbia’s long-term military modernisation, aligning its capabilities with cutting-edge defence technologies.

As Serbia moves forward with its military transformation and nationalist rhetoric, the international community is watching closely. Whether these developments represent a strategic recalibration or a potential prelude to confrontation remains to be seen.

Vučić outlined plans for a new “digital army,” modeled after Israel’s defence systems, placing emphasis on cyber capabilities, information dominance, and advanced weapons platforms.

“We will build what Israel has achieved: a digital army, a full programme or platform,” the president said.

The president revealed that a major military parade is scheduled for 12-13 September or alternatively 19-20 September, where the Serbian public would witness previously unseen military assets.

“We hid them. We protected them. We brought them to Serbia through various channels,” Vučić stated.

Top secret

On 21 June Vučić asserted that “very few people” know the full scope of weapons acquisitions made in recent years due to the highly secretive nature of the process. “We hid massive changes in the Serbian Armed Forces. No more than five people know what we brought in, and our goal is to protect the country,” he said, as quoted by N1 and Danas.

According to Vučić, the militaries of Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia are forming a regional alliance and are actively encouraging Bulgaria to join. This, he claimed, leaves Serbia with no choice but to arm itself in response. “We are forced to rearm,” he said, while assuring that the upcoming parade will showcase Serbia’s full military capabilities.

Bulgaria has strongly denied interest in any defence organisation except NATO.

Vučić further alleged that NATO countries had conducted multiple drone reconnaissance missions over Serbian territory, but Serbia deliberately refrained from responding in order to avoid revealing its capabilities.

“We didn’t react so they wouldn’t know what we have,” he stated. The president also promised the inclusion of “many types of drones” into the military’s arsenal, which he described as becoming “incredibly lethal.”

“We’ve kept things hidden, protected. We brought them to Serbia through multiple channels,” Vučić hinted, suggesting previously undisclosed defence acquisitions and developments.

The country’s military leadership appears to back the strategy, which is unfolding amid Serbia’s broader geopolitical repositioning as a regional power in the Western Balkans. The parade and secrecy surrounding new weapon systems signal growing confidence and a posture of deterrence.

Over the past years, Serbia has significantly invested in its military arsenal. It has purchased French Rafale fighter jets, Russian combat helicopters, described by Vučić as “flying tanks”, and Chinese air defence systems shortly after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Reports also indicate Serbia has acquired thousands of Iranian drones.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Serbia’s €1.3 billion defence budget in 2022 was ten times larger than Kosovo’s. With around 250 tanks, more than all other former Yugoslav republics combined, Serbia’s armoured force even rivals that of Germany, which currently fields 295 tanks. Croatia, by comparison, possesses just 75.

These developments have heightened concerns among Serbia’s neighbours, particularly as Belgrade promotes a nationalist vision of a “Serbian World.”

The concept, echoing the ambitions of Slobodan Milošević’s “Greater Serbia,” has found support among ethnic Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo.

In early June 2024, Vučić hosted a so-called “All-Serbian Assembly” in Belgrade, culminating in a declaration outlining a strategic vision for unifying Serbs across the former Yugoslavia. The declaration reaffirmed claims over Kosovo, referred to as a Serbian province, and defined Republika Srpska, the Serb entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a “national interest” of Serbia. Germany reacted strongly, with a Foreign Office representative in Belgrade calling the declaration “deeply troubling and harmful to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and the entire Western Balkans.”

Concerns have also intensified over repeated Serbian troop deployments near Kosovo’s borders and a violent incident involving a Serbian paramilitary group attacking Kosovo security forces. These events are seen as possible tests of NATO’s response readiness.

Caption: Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić welcomed the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik in Belgrade, 8 June 2024, EPA/BGNES

Updated: June 23, 2025 - 12:51