The defense industry of Serbia is the largest in the Western Balkans. Serbia's export of weapons and military equipment in 2021 was valued at $1.23 billion (€1.13 billion).[1] It consists of around 200 companies, both public and private, working in many different fields.Serbian defense companies closely cooperate with the Military Technical Institute, country's top-level military scientific research institution, in developing new weapons, as well as with Serbian Armed Forces' Technical Testing Center, using its services for testing of new defense products. Universities and colleges in Serbia also participate through various contracts with the companies.
All Serbian manufacturers of defense equipment must abide to the Law on Manufacturing and Sale of Weapons and Defense equipment.[2] There is a special permission for manufacturing defense material and manufacturers must meet many criteria in order to get a permit for manufacturing. There is also a special registry that all companies have to apply to in order to obtain permits for import or export defense products; as of 2018, 219 companies were registered for arms import-export.[3]
There are several universities that have proper defense industry study programs, such as:
Production is performed in many companies, both public (state-owned) and private. There is a close cooperation between some of these in numerous projects.
Public companies i.e. those that are state-owned are grouped into "Defence Industry of Serbia" holding .
| Company | Portfolio | Employees | Revenue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| armored vehicles and artillery systems | 1,520 | 181.85 million | ||
| large-caliber ammunition (missiles, rockets, shells) | 3,186 | 81.48 million | ||
| small-caliber ammunition | 1,713 | 61.21 million | ||
| large-caliber ammunition | 1,750 | 58.55 million | ||
| gunpowder | 1,282 | 46.06 million | ||
| explosives, protective devices | 1,124 | 43.20 million | ||
| firearms | 2,631 | 32.59 million | ||
| uniforms, bulletproof vests | 2,040 | 24.18 million | ||
| multiple rocket launchers, anti-aircraft systems, mortars, robots | 701 | 17.80 million | ||
| explosives | 168 | 11.74 million | ||
| optics | 202 | 2.91 million | ||
| off-road trucks | 200 | 1.45 million | ||
| off-road vehicles | 46 | 0.47 million | ||
| Total | 16,374 | 563.49 million | ||
Partial list of private companies includes:
Every two years international defense fair "Partner" is organized in Belgrade. Defense companies of Serbia participate at fair presenting its latest products.[8]