The United Arab Emirates will invest USD 33mn in the first phase of project of joint development of the Advanced Light Attack System (ALAS) missile system. A total of USD 220 million will be invested in the next four years, Jugoimport SDPR Assistant General Director Nenad Miloradović said on Tuesday.
“In terms of concept and technology, ALAS is one of the most modern land forces weapon systems,” Miloradović told RTS.
On February 18, Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Aleksandar Vučić attended the signing of a contract between Serbia’s Jugoimport SDPR and the Emirates Advanced Research and Technology Holding (EARTH) in Abu Dhabi, on a project of joint development of the ALAS guided missile system and equipment.
This is a system that should raise armor weapons to a completely new level, Miloradović said.
As he put it, the ALAS should meet most of the needs of contemporary commanders in tactical units to the land.
As for the missile, it is designed so that it can be produced in the domestic industry, in the respective factories, that is in plants that produced similar subsystems in earlier generations, he said.
Miloradović stressed that it is equally important that this is a potential mass production and delivery.
“The market has changed, and we are always trying to find a niche in the world market and offer technology at the appropriate level, but at more favorable prices, and our partners from the emirates have recognized this,” he said.
Asked whether Serbia has enough capacity, equipment and professional staff to realize this project, Miloradović replied positively, adding that the core that has presented this project will remain the same, but that it will get the support of scientific and technological workers.
The project will also involve experts from the Serbian Armed Forces and Defense Ministry, he added.
Source B92