Serbia and Israel plan to establish a joint venture to produce drones, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Tuesday, outlining a project aimed at manufacturing tens of thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles within two years.
Under the agreement, Israel will provide advanced know-how and technology, while Serbia will contribute production and development infrastructure, Vucic said. The project will be structured as a 50-50 partnership between the two countries.
“We cannot produce drones as Israel can, but I am proud that we will do it together — 50% to 50%,” Vucic told reporters. “This guarantees that we will have the best drones in the region.”
He said the goal is to produce up to 80,000 drones within roughly two years, including loitering munitions and domestically manufactured systems.
In recent years, Serbia has expanded its defense industry’s unmanned aerial capabilities, developing systems for strike and intelligence missions, some of which have already entered operational use.
The announcement follows a broader Serbian plan unveiled late last year to open a large-scale drone production facility. Serbia has also supplied Israel with munitions during the ongoing war, even as several European countries suspended defense exports to Israel.
The development comes as Italy’s government said Tuesday it suspended the automatic renewal of a defense cooperation agreement with Israel, a move Israeli officials said would not have practical implications for security ties.