Becomes 10th Nation Invited to Join MISTRAL User Club
MBDA announced the signature of a contract with the Serbian Ministry of Defence for the MISTRAL 3 short range air defence system (SHORADS) on 16 July, during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Balkan nation.
With this first European missile order, Serbia becomes the 32nd customer country for the MISTRAL missile and the 10th country invited to join the MISTRAL user club. This will allow Serbia to benefit from shared user experiences from the many forces operating the MISTRAL in Europe and to contribute to definition of future developments of the weapon systems based on this missile. The contract is for the acquisition of MISTRAL missiles, launchers for dismounted soldiers, related equipment and logistics, and the provision of technical and material assistance for missile integration on the Serbian armed forces PASARS vehicles.
As the latest generation of the family currently in service, MISTRAL 3 features very high resistance to infrared countermeasures and a capability to engage air targets with a low thermal signature, such as missiles and unmanned aerial systems.
“[…] this contract far exceeds just material supplies. Serbia is invited to join as a new member of the MISTRAL user club and becomes a new partner for MBDA. But above all, this contract is the first milestone of a cooperation that we are going to build together with Serbia, whose security objectives are similar to those of France and of the European Union,” commented MBDA CEO, Eric Béranger, during the contract signature ceremony.