ISRAEL OPENS DRONE FACTORY IN SERBIA: One of the largest weapons manufacturers leased a facility from Zeljko Mitrovic!

Serbia has agreed to the production of drones on its territory with the Israeli military giant Elbit Systems, a company that has been criticized for years due to its role in Israeli military operations in Gaza and the West Bank, BIRN and Haaretz reveal.

“Soon we are opening the first factory of serious drones here in our country, very serious, the most serious world production,” stated the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, on March 7 of this year.

Vucic previously stated that Serbia would open the factory with a foreign partner, specifically from Israel, and that the factory could begin operations as early as April, but he did not reveal the name of the company.

BIRN and Haaretz reveal that the company in question is Elbit Systems, the largest Israeli military company, which has been the target of criticism for years due to its participation in Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

Elbit will hold 51 percent ownership in the drone factory, while the domestic Yugoimport SDPR will hold 49 percent.

The UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, stated in a June 2025 report that Elbit is among the companies profiting from the “ongoing genocide” in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have perished in Israeli military operations since the Hamas attack in October 2023.

According to documents obtained by BIRN and Haaretz, and statements from two independent sources, the production of two types of drones is planned – for close-range and long-range missions.

The factory is expected to be located in a facility in Simanovci, which will be leased from a firm belonging to Zeljko Mitrovic, the owner of Pink.

Israel and Serbia already have developed cooperation in the field of armaments. The value of ammunition and weapons exports from Serbia to Israel has increased as much as 42 times since 2023 and reached 114 million euros at the end of last year, despite numerous appeals from United Nations experts to halt the sale of military equipment to Israel.

Most of this export was realized precisely through SDPR.

Vuk Vuksanovic, a lecturer at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, says that Serbia’s motives are potential profits from the sale of these drones, but also access to the technology and knowledge of one of the most advanced military companies. Israel, on the other hand, seeks to secure a “supply chain outside its own backyard, which is constantly in a conflict zone.”

Vuksanovic points out that Serbia continues to balance geopolitically, but certain addresses are becoming more important, in this case Israel, because the authorities see it as a “shortcut to the White House.”

“The main priority of the ruling elite is to remain in power, and to achieve that, it is important not to enter into conflict with the Americans, especially in the context of Trump’s recent moves in the global arena,” he states for BIRN.

SDPR did not respond to journalists’ questions, while Elbit briefly replied: “No comment.”

“Ubiquitous killing machines”

The Israeli-Serbian drone production will be located in Simanovci, about 30 kilometers west of Belgrade, in a facility owned by Pink Media Group.

According to documents seen by BIRN, and confirmed by two independent sources close to the military industry, the production of two types of drones is planned – a short-range model with high payload capacity and rotary wings, and a more advanced and faster long-range model that can fly at altitudes of over six kilometers.

A source familiar with the deal says that the long-range drone is “more advanced” than the Pegaz, a combat-reconnaissance drone that Serbia already produces.

“It has a higher flight altitude and greater operational autonomy. The essence of the whole story is the transfer of technology, because our engineers will also work on it, and that drone is actually the crown of the entire project,” he states.

According to the BIRN source, experts from Utva, an aircraft factory owned by SDPR, will also be involved in the process.