Praise Russia's Kornet Anti-tank Missile Better Than US Javelin, Serbian President: Tank Destroyer

Russian President Vladimir Putin with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called Russia's Kornet anti-tank missile system the best in the world, adding that the system that can be operated by people or installed on multiple vehicle platforms is better than the US' Javelin anti-tank missile system.

"I am very happy they have been supplied, Kornet is very important. Look how they work in Syria, their second name is 'tank destroyer'," President Vucic quoted TASS as saying Dec. 25.

"Those are the best missiles in the world, they are slightly better than the Javelin missile system, which is also fantastic. It strengthens the Serbian army," continued President Vucic.

Earlier, the newspaper Politika said a number of launch facilities for the Kornet anti-tank missile system had been sent from Russia to Serbia. The missiles were supplied to Belgrade's Batainitsa military airfield on Thursday last week by an Il-76 military transport aircraft.

On December 2, Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said during talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, the country had received the launch facility of the Kornet anti-tank missile system.

The Russian Kornet anti-tank missile system is mounted on a tracked armored vehicle. (Wikimedia Commons/Galeria del Ministerio de Defensa del Per)

Russia is known to have handed over 30 T-72MS tanks to Serbia and 30 BRDM-2MS armored personnel carriers. During 2018 to February 2020, Russia donated four Mi-35M helicopters, six MiG-29 fighters, 10 BRDM-2 amphibious armored reconnaissance cars, three Mi-17V-5 transport helicopters, and the Pantsir-S1 air defense missile weapon system. Serbia as military technical assistance.

To note, Russia itself continues to improve the capabilities of its military weapons, including the Kornet. Recently, The High Precision Weapons Company (part of the state technology company Rostec) has adapted the Kornet-EM anti-tank missile system for the chassis of various types of vehicles, said the company's Deputy CEO Sergey Mikhailov.

"We can say the Kornet-EM has become a universal anti-tank missile system, it has been adapted for any wheeled or chain wheel chassis, with the appropriate lift capacity," explains Mikhailov.

"Therefore, this capability upgrade can fully meet the requirements for anti-tank weapons," he continued on the sidelines of the EDEX 2021 international defense exhibition in Egypt.