China speaks out about the “secret” flight to Serbia

On April 10, on social networks, photos of a group of 6 Y-20 transport planes of China One after another, they flew over the airspace of two NATO members (Turkey and Bulgaria) before landing at the airport in the Serbian capital Belgrade.

Explaining this, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on April 11 that their aircraft transports are only transporting “conventional military resources”.

“China has mobilized airlifters to transfer conventional military resources in the past few days to realize a plan for bilateral cooperation. This move is not aimed at a third party and is unrelated to current developments. today” – Mr. Trieu Lap Kien emphasized at a press conference in Beijing.

Chinese Y-20 transport aircraft flew over two NATO member countries to Serbia on April 9. Photo: AP

Earlier, the Global Times (under the People’s Daily) – the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party – reported that Y-20 aircraft carriers were delivering FK-3 systems to Serbia. Regarding this, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman neither confirmed nor denied.

It is known that the FK-3 is an export version of the Chinese-made HQ-22 long-range air defense system. Each complex includes three launch vehicles, a radar station, a command post and many technical support vehicles.

Chinese military experts said that Serbia has ordered three FK-3 systems and needs about 12 Y-20 strategic transport aircraft to deliver all the weapons.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced last week that he would introduce the “latest pride” of the army on April 12 or 13. He said China and Serbia have agreed on the sale of FK-3 air defense missiles from 2019. However, currently President Aleksandar Vucic has not confirmed whether these complexes have been delivered to Serbia.

The original HQ-22 system was introduced that could engage targets from a distance of 170 km and a maximum altitude of 27 km. The system is compared with the American Patriot and the Russian S-300.

In 2020, US officials warned Serbia about China’s sale of FK-3 air defense missiles, asking it to adapt its military equipment to Western standards if it wants to join the EU or NATO.

Serbia will become the first European country to operate China’s FK-3 air defense missile, according to SCMP.