Serbia showcased its new "robot dogs" at a major military exercise on September 13, alongside drones, missile systems and other new equipment, as it pushes to modernise its armed forces and expand the use of unmanned systems.
The robot dogs were displayed at the "Pobednik 2026" live-fire exercise at the Pešter training ground in southwestern Serbia, near Sjenica. The robots can carry weapons including machine guns and grenade launchers and are intended to enter potentially mined or inaccessible areas ahead of special forces.
President Aleksandar Vucic said the exercise demonstrated for the first time an attack involving robotic and unmanned systems without direct human participation.
"Today you could see for the first time an attack by robotic, unmanned and unmanned aerial vehicles, without a single human," Vucic said, public broadcaster RTS reported.
The display comes weeks after Chinese robotics company AGIBOT opened a factory in the Serbian city of Sabac with Chinese automotive supplier Minth. The plant will assemble humanoid robots and robotic dogs and test their movement and vision systems as part of a wider €200mn investment plan.
Vucic has said Serbia could initially produce more than 5,000 robots a year and was testing humanoid robots for military applications.
Serbia also displayed China's HQ-17 air-defence system at the exercise, as well as domestically developed unmanned ground vehicles, drones and new multiple rocket launchers.
Belgrade has increasingly turned to China for military equipment, including drones, air-defence systems and CM-400AKG supersonic missiles, while also buying major weapons systems from Western suppliers such as French Rafale fighter jets.
Vucic said Serbia was developing a "digital army" to allow combat vehicles to transmit target information directly to artillery units, reducing battlefield decision-making time.
"We want peace and stability. We want to protect our sky and our land ourselves," he said.
The exercise took place amid continuing tensions between Serbia and neighbouring Kosovo and wider security concerns in the Western Balkans.
Serbia plans to reintroduce compulsory military service from March next year, with the planned service lasting 75 days.
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