PARIS — Serbia agreed to buy 12 Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation to replace its MiG-29 fleet, in a deal which French President Emmanuel Macron called a strategic change for the Balkan country that maintains ties with Russia and China.
The contract for nine single-seater Rafales and three two-seaters is worth €2.7 billion (US$3 billion), according to French media, citing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. The purchase price includes an auxiliary logistics package, spare engines and parts, Vucic said at a press conference, Reuters reported.
Macron hailed Serbia’s choice of Rafale as positive for Europe, seeking to stave off criticism over France selling a highly capable fighter to a non-NATO member and Russia ally that doesn’t recognize the independence of neighboring Kosovo. The country has typically relied on Russia and more recently China for much of its military equipment.
“It’s great news because it’s a change, and in so doing, it contributes to peace in Europe,” Macron said. “Serbia has other partners, a history of these partnerships, but it’s an opening, a strategic change, despite a lot of pressure. It’s real strategic courage and an opportunity for Europe.”
Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier and Serbian Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic signed the contract for the Rafale sale in Belgrade in the presence of Macron and Vucic, the company said in an emailed statement Thursday night. The contract “testifies to the determination of both presidents to make this partnership a success,” the company said.
Serbia has been looking at Europe-based suppliers to replace some of its ageing flying equipment, taking delivery of two Airbus C295 transport aircraft in September last year.
Croatia and Greece operate the Rafale, and Macron said Serbia joining the club is “a tremendous opportunity” for regional integration.
Macron said Dassault Aviation typically takes all precautions to protect French intellectual property and know-how, calling for confidence in the firm and the French defense ministry to “have done everything to the highest standards, just as we have done in all the countries where similar contracts have been signed.”
Serbia is buying the planes in the F3 configuration with delivery by 2029, and the purchase price doesn’t include armaments such as missiles and bombs, French newspaper La Tribune reported, without saying where it got the information. Vucic said the jets will be delivered with MBDA’s Mica medium-range, air-to-air missile rather than the more sophisticated long-range Meteor, according to Reuters.
France in December ordered an additional 42 Rafale jets in a deal worth more than €5 billion, while Indonesia in January placed an order for 18 of the aircraft as the final tranche of a 2022 deal.
Dassault Aviation’s flurry of Rafale orders could challenge the company’s target to start deliveries three years from contract signature, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in January. The company said in July the production ramp-up of the Rafale continues to be impacted by supply-chain disruptions in the aerospace industry.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
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