Serbia opens a drone assembly plant, 19 days after the Šabac robots

On 17 September President Aleksandar Vučić opened a factory for Israeli-designed combat drones — 19 days after the humanoid-robot plant in Šabac, which he also attended. Both begin as assembly of technology developed abroad. Little is confirmed, and most of it comes from Vučić himself.

What was announced

In a social-media post and video, Vučić said the plant will employ about 100 people and make equipment for the Serbian Armed Forces and for the armed forces of some other countries. Journalists were not invited, because of “the confidentiality of the production process”, and no address was given. His forward look: “Our plans are huge” — at least three more factories with Israeli partners, one near Lađevci airport, one near Niš airport, the rest still open.

Who is behind it

The announcement spoke only of “Israeli partners”. AP and BIRN/Haaretz name Elbit Systems. BIRN and Haaretz, citing documents, report that Elbit holds 51% and Yugoimport SDPR, Serbia's state arms exporter, 49% — a split the opening did not repeat. Elbit, the defence ministry and Yugoimport did not answer BBC's questions. Al Jazeera notes that Elbit has been criticised over its role in operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

Two plants, one sequence

Set beside Šabac's figures, the two openings have more in common than the calendar:

Detail	Šabac robot plant	Drone plant
Opened	29 August	17 September
Foreign partner	Minth, with AGIBOT (China)	Elbit Systems (Israel), per AP and BIRN/Haaretz
Jobs	about 200 at the start	about 100
First-phase investment	€20 million	not disclosed
Local content, as stated	“assemble, and later produce”	assembly first; “almost all” parts within about a year; warhead from Krušik

Both start with assembly and promise local production later. For Šabac that promise has no date; for the drones Vučić gave one: “Within about a year, almost all drone parts will be made in our country” — the point, he said, is technology transfer rather than dependence on imports. The only local component named so far is the warhead, from Krušik in Valjevo.

What is missing

Šabac's numbers were public and could be tested against one another. The drone plant offers one number, about 100 jobs: no investment, output, address or ownership split. None of the reports we read calls the two projects a single strategy. What can be said is narrower: the same model — foreign design, assembly first, localisation promised — with the same president opening both.

What we'll watch

Whether the promised localisation appears: Vučić's “about a year” runs to autumn 2027. Whether the plants near the Lađevci and Niš airports get built, where the others go, and on what terms. And whether an address, an investment figure or the ownership split is ever published. The test we set for Šabac applies here too: output that can be counted, not announcements.

Sources

• AP (WTOP), 17 September 2026 — Vucic inaugurates assembly factory for Israel-made drones
• Reuters (Jerusalem Post), 17 September 2026 — Serbia opened assembly plant for Israeli drones
• BBC na srpskom (021.rs), 17 September 2026 — Fabrika dronova sa Izraelom: „Misteriozno“ otvaranje u Beogradu
• B92, 17 September 2026 — Vučić o novim dronovima
• BIRN/Haaretz (Balkan Insight), 7 April 2026 — Serbia Poised to Produce Drones with Israeli Arms Giant Involved in Gaza
• Al Jazeera, 17 September 2026 — Serbia opens factory to assemble Israeli-made drones