In the years following the 1990s wars in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Serbian Armed Forces were depleted, with their weapon systems destroyed or obsolete. Therefore, in recent years, and especially since 2016, the Serbian Armed Forces have been modernising themselves at an accelerated pace. This master's thesis focuses on the modernization of Serbian Armed Forces’ weapon systems from all three perspectives: (1) the perspective of purchase of foreign weapon systems, (2) the perspective of modernization of existing old weapon systems, and (3) the perspective of equipping the Serbian Armed Forces with weapon systems manufactured by Serbian defence industry companies. The thesis thus provides the answers to the following questions: What is the primary focus of modernization of the Serbian Armed Forces weapon systems? What is the reach of the Serbian defence industry? Which countries does Serbia cooperate with in equipping its Armed Forces and which country is its main partner? and How fast does the modernization of the weapon systems proceed?. The thesis concludes that the Serbian Armed Forces are indeed modernising their weapon systems at an accelerated pace, but they are still not a modern army. The modernization of their weapon systems is a long, evolutionary process, in which small and very limited revolutionary shifts are represented by the purchase of foreign weapon systems. The process of modernization of weapon systems will continue or, according to currently available indicators, even intensify in the coming years.
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