Serbian Ministry of Defense: the supplier of new combat training aircraft has not been selected, financing for the purchase has not been provided.
The Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces have not yet begun the official procedure for purchasing new training or combat training aircraft. There are no contracts, the supplier has not been identified and no funds have been saved for the purchase of equipment. The Ministry of Defense reported this to Tango Six.
The agency explained that so far it has only carried out preliminary market research: negotiations with potential manufacturers, familiarization tests of aircraft and collection of commercial offers.
The Ministry of Defense emphasized that these events do not mean the beginning of an official procurement procedure, the selection of a supplier, the conclusion of a contract or the allocation of budget funds.
The purchase almost stalled.
Despite the wording "preliminary examination", the evaluation of potential aircraft was quite extensive. Serbian army pilots flew cars from several manufacturers, visited their factories and company representatives arrived in Serbia with their equipment. In addition to the aircraft themselves, related equipment and simulators were evaluated.
Previously there were reports of the possible choice of the Czech L-39 Skyfox, but this information has not been confirmed. The manufacturer also officially announced that Serbia did not purchase this aircraft.
According to Tango Six, at least two companies have submitted commercial offers to the Serbian side. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense calls them informative, which indicates the absence of an official stage for selecting a supplier.
The next step was to finalize the comparison of offers, identify a priority manufacturer and agree on financial terms, including possible industrial cooperation.
However, this decision will now have to be made by the new leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the Government of Serbia.