China Makes Semi Secret Delivery Of Missiles To Serbia

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport aircraft landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian army. Chinese cargo planes with military insignia were depicted at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport. The Serbian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment. The delivery of weapons to the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as evidence of China’s growing global reach. “The appearance of the Y-20 raised eyebrows because they flew en masse in contrast to a series of flights with an aircraft,” wrote the online magazine The Warzone. “The presence of the Y-20 in Europe in any number is also a fairly new development.” Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said “the Chinese carried out the show of force”. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed the delivery of the medium-range system agreed in 2019, saying on Saturday that he would present “the newest pride” of the Serbian army on Tuesday or Wednesday. He had earlier complained that NATO countries, representing most of Serbia’s neighbors, were refusing to allow delivery of the system over their territories amid tensions over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Although Serbia voted in favor of UN resolutions condemning Russia’s bloody attacks on Ukraine, it has refused to take part in international sanctions against its allies in Moscow or to directly criticize the apparent atrocities committed by Russian troops there. In 2020, US officials warned Belgrade of the purchase of HQ-22 anti-aircraft systems, the export version of which is known as the FK-3. They said that if Serbia really wants to join the European Union and other Western alliances, it must align its military equipment with Western standards. The Chinese missile system has been widely compared to the US Patriot and the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile system, although it has a shorter range than the more advanced S-300s. Serbia will be the first Chinese missile operator in Europe. Serbia was at war with its neighbors in the 1990s. The country, which formally seeks EU membership, has already strengthened its armed forces with Russian and Chinese weapons, including warplanes, battle tanks and other equipment. In 2020, it received the Chengdu Pterodactyl-1 drone, known in China as the Wing Loong. Fighter drones are capable of hitting targets with bombs and missiles and can be used for reconnaissance tasks. There are fears in the West that Serbia’s arming by Russia and China could encourage the Balkan country into a new war, especially against the former Kosovo province that declared independence in 2008. Serbia, Russia and China do not recognize the state of Kosovo, while the United States and most western countries do.

title: “China Makes Semi Secret Delivery Of Missiles To Serbia " ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-28” author: “Geraldine Vancleave”

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport aircraft landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian army.
Chinese cargo planes with military insignia were depicted at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport.  The Serbian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment.
The delivery of weapons to the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as evidence of China’s growing global reach.
“The appearance of the Y-20 raised eyebrows because they flew en masse in contrast to a series of flights with an aircraft,” wrote the online magazine The Warzone.  “The presence of the Y-20 in Europe in any number is also a fairly new development.”
Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that “the Chinese carried out a show of force”.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed the delivery of the medium-range system agreed in 2019, saying on Saturday that he would present “the newest pride” of the Serbian army on Tuesday or Wednesday.
He had earlier complained that NATO countries, representing most of Serbia’s neighbors, were refusing to allow delivery of the system over their territories amid tensions over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
Although Serbia voted in favor of UN resolutions condemning Russia’s bloody attacks on Ukraine, it has refused to take part in international sanctions against its allies in Moscow or to directly criticize the apparent atrocities committed by Russian troops there.
In 2020, US officials warned Belgrade of the purchase of HQ-22 anti-aircraft systems, the export version of which is known as the FK-3.  They said that if Serbia really wants to join the European Union and other Western alliances, it must align its military equipment with Western standards.
The Chinese missile system has been widely compared to the US Patriot and the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile system, although it has a shorter range than the more advanced S-300s.  Serbia will be the first Chinese missile operator in Europe.
Serbia was at war with its neighbors in the 1990s. The country, which formally seeks EU membership, has already strengthened its armed forces with Russian and Chinese weapons, including warplanes, battle tanks and other equipment.
In 2020, it received the Chengdu Pterodactyl-1 drone, known in China as the Wing Loong.  Fighter drones are capable of hitting targets with bombs and missiles and can be used for reconnaissance tasks.
There are fears in the West that Serbia’s arming by Russia and China could encourage the Balkan country into a new war, especially against the former Kosovo province that declared independence in 2008. Serbia, Russia and China do not recognize the state of Kosovo, while the United States and most western countries do.

title: “China Makes Semi Secret Delivery Of Missiles To Serbia " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-03” author: “Dennis Barrera”

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport aircraft landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian army. Chinese cargo planes with military insignia were depicted at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport. The Serbian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment. The delivery of weapons to the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as evidence of China’s growing global reach. “The appearance of the Y-20 raised eyebrows because they flew en masse in contrast to a series of flights with an aircraft,” wrote the online magazine The Warzone. “The presence of the Y-20 in Europe in any number is also a fairly new development.” Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said “the Chinese carried out the show of force”. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed the delivery of the medium-range system agreed in 2019, saying on Saturday that he would present “the newest pride” of the Serbian army on Tuesday or Wednesday. He had earlier complained that NATO countries, representing most of Serbia’s neighbors, were refusing to allow delivery of the system over their territories amid tensions over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Although Serbia voted in favor of UN resolutions condemning Russia’s bloody attacks on Ukraine, it has refused to take part in international sanctions against its allies in Moscow or to directly criticize the apparent atrocities committed by Russian troops there. In 2020, US officials warned Belgrade of the purchase of HQ-22 anti-aircraft systems, the export version of which is known as the FK-3. They said that if Serbia really wants to join the European Union and other Western alliances, it must align its military equipment with Western standards. The Chinese missile system has been widely compared to the US Patriot and the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile system, although it has a shorter range than the more advanced S-300s. Serbia will be the first Chinese missile operator in Europe. Serbia was at war with its neighbors in the 1990s. The country, which formally seeks EU membership, has already strengthened its armed forces with Russian and Chinese weapons, including warplanes, battle tanks and other equipment. In 2020, it received the Chengdu Pterodactyl-1 drone, known in China as the Wing Loong. Fighter drones are capable of hitting targets with bombs and missiles and can be used for reconnaissance tasks. There are fears in the West that Serbia’s arming by Russia and China could encourage the Balkan country into a new war, especially against the former Kosovo province that declared independence in 2008. Serbia, Russia and China do not recognize the state of Kosovo, while the United States and most western countries do.

title: “China Makes Semi Secret Delivery Of Missiles To Serbia " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-13” author: “John Jablonski”

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military. The Chinese cargo planes with military markings were pictured at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport. Serbia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment. The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China’s growing global reach. “The Y-20s’ appearance raised eyebrows because they flew en masse as opposed to a series of single-aircraft flights,” wrote The Warzone online magazine. “The Y-20′s presence in Europe in any numbers is also still a fairly new development.” Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that “the Chinese carried out their demonstration of force.” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic all but confirmed the delivery of the medium-range system that was agreed in 2019, saying on Saturday that he will present “the newest pride” of the Serbian military on Tuesday or Wednesday. He had earlier complained that NATO countries, which represent most of Serbia’s neighbors, are refusing to allow the system’s delivery flights over their territories amid tensions over Russia’s aggression on Ukraine. Although Serbia has voted in favor of U.N. resolutions that condemn the bloody Russian attacks in Ukraine, it has refused to join international sanctions against its allies in Moscow or outright criticize the apparent atrocities committed by the Russian troops there. Back in 2020, U.S. officials warned Belgrade against the purchase of HQ-22 anti-aircraft systems, whose export version is known as FK-3. They said that if Serbia really wants to join the European Union and other Western alliances, it must align its military equipment with Western standards. The Chinese missile system has been widely compared to the American Patriot and the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems although it has a shorter range than more advanced S-300s. Serbia will be the first operator of the Chinese missiles in Europe. Serbia was at war with its neighbors in the 1990s. The country, which is formally seeking EU membership, has already been boosting its armed forces with Russian and Chinese arms, including warplanes, battle tanks and other equipment. In 2020, it took delivery of Chengdu Pterodactyl-1 drones, known in China as Wing Loong. The combat drones are able to strike targets with bombs and missiles and can be used for reconnaissance tasks. There are fears in the West that the arming of Serbia by Russia and China could encourage the Balkan country toward another war, especially against its former province of Kosovo that proclaimed independence in 2008. Serbia, Russia and China don’t recognize Kosovo’s statehood, while the United States and most Western countries do.