As early as April 9, 2024, Serbian President Vučić announced that he would buy 12 Rafale fighters for 3 billion euros (about $3.2 billion).
Rafale fighter
At this price, buying a Chinese J-10C is enough to buy 32 aircraft, and it can also come with various maintenance services.
However, geographically speaking, Serbia's purchase of French weapons is regarded as "paying protection money", not only did it not lose money, but on the whole it also made a lot of money.
Serbia pays protection money
For one, sometimes we find that American weapons are more expensive than Chinese weapons, but other times American weapons are relatively cheaper.
The reason for this is that China's arms trade agreements are clean and often have no other strings attached, so prices are relatively stable.
The United States often sells weapons with other conditions, and these conditions are good and bad.
For example, if the United States sells F-35 fighters to South Korea, it will leave a back door on the F-35 fighters, and the use of these F-35s by the South Korean military will be strictly restricted.
South Korean F-35
In addition, South Korea itself does not have wartime command, so South Korea's purchase of these F-35 fighters is largely regarded as strengthening the United States' air power in the Asia-Pacific region.
Another example is that the United States used to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, and at the same time, it also had to bear the responsibility for Saudi Arabia's national defense. Therefore, Saudi Arabia's purchase of US weapons is essentially paying protection money to the United States in exchange for its own security.
Under these conditions, the weapons sold by the United States naturally have both expensive and cheap weapons, and the price of weapons is usually determined according to the situation.
Serbia bought French weapons at a higher price, which was essentially an act of paying "protection money" to France.
Of course, this protection fee is not the other's protection money, and Saudi Arabia pays protection money to the United States in the hope that the United States can protect it from Iran and the Houthis, but Serbia pays protection money to France in the hope that NATO will not harm it.
Serbia can be said to be a thorn in the side of NATO, which has been trying to find a way to dismember Serbia.
In the last century, NATO openly bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and forced the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to disintegrate. Up to now, NATO has not spared Serbia and is constantly making things happen on the Kosovo issue, hoping to further decompose Serbia.
Against this background, Serbia bought weapons from France, which is a member of NATO, at a high price, in the natural hope that through France's channels, NATO would raise its noble hand.
And geographically, China will not be able to protect Serbia either.
Pla
On the one hand, China's current military power is not enough to project to Europe, and on the other hand, China's current policy is not to participate in external disputes.
Therefore, Serbia must find a way to protect itself, and the plan given by Serbia is to pay protection money to NATO.
France is an outlier in NATO
Second, Serbia has chosen the right target for buying French weapons. France is an outlier in NATO, and although it is a NATO country, it has a relatively distant relationship with the United States.
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, France exalted Gaullism and fought for its independence.
De gaulle
Later, in order to maintain its independence from the United States, France withdrew from NATO for a time in the last century, and only joined NATO again in 2009.
At this time, it has been more than 40 years since France withdrew from NATO.
Even if it rejoins NATO, France still has the idea of pursuing relative independence. The current French President Emmanuel Macron wants to establish a European defense system and break away from dependence on the United States militarily.
Therefore, although France is a member of NATO, it is not on the same page as the United States. Serbia's search for France is in line with its special national conditions.
This particular situation is that Serbia is surrounded by NATO members, so it cannot openly confront NATO.
Serbia is surrounded by NATO
However, because of Serbia's history and political reasons, it cannot be pro-NATO, because this will make the "pro-American" forces in the country rise, lose their independence to a certain extent, and may really make Kosovo independent.
At this time, the peculiarity of France, which is an outlier in NATO, is manifested.
Serbia's payment of protection money to France is equivalent to paying protection money to NATO, and the United States and the European Union have little reason to engage Serbia again.
In addition, France and the United States are not of the same mind, and when Serbia shows pro-French tendencies, it is difficult for the "pro-American" forces in Serbia to raise their heads.
Serbia has the problem of buying J-10
Third, from the point of view of the fighter itself, the Rafale is also the most suitable fighter for Serbia.
If Serbia wants to buy light fighters, there are three fighters to choose from in the international market, namely the French Rafale fighter, the Chinese J-10C fighter, and the American F-16 fighter.
Among them, the F-16 will definitely not be bought because of the diplomatic relations between Serbia and the United States, so the only options are Rafale and J-10C.
But the J-10C also has some problems for Serbia.
J-10C fighter
The first question is how to get in.
You must know that Serbia is now fully surrounded by NATO member states, and if NATO member states close their airspace, Chinese planes will not be able to fly in.
In 2022, China sold anti-aircraft missiles to Serbia and sent them directly with the Y-20, because Turkey and Bulgaria opened their airspace to China.
But not now. At a time when the international situation is becoming more and more intense, the confrontation between China and NATO has become white-hot.
At this time, China wants to fly planes into Serbia, and even if Turkey and Bulgaria have the idea of opening their airspace to China, they will soon be pressed back by the pressure of the United States.
Y-20 arrived in Serbia
As a result, the French Rafale became the only non-American light fighter that could be transported into Serbia.
The second problem is the limitation of the J-10C fighter itself.
The J-10C fighter is a relatively pure air superiority aircraft and is not suitable for performing ground missions. But Serbia is a small country and cannot afford to raise professional bombers.
If Serbia wants to carry out a ground strike mission, it needs to use fighter jets to mount aerial bombs or ground-to-ground missiles, and the best way is to buy multi-purpose fighters.
So the J-10C and Serbia, in fact, are not too suitable, and those people will naturally choose Rafale fighters.
Rafale fighter
In terms of Serbia's national strength, it is impossible for it to raise an air force that is too large, so it is not sensitive to the price of a single aircraft. Coupled with the nature of paying protection money, Serbia ended up opting for the French Rafale.
Resources:
[1] Reference news: "Plans to spend 3 billion euros! Serbia wants to buy "Rafale" fighters from France"
[2] Observer.com, "Vučić: Serbia's compliant and transparent purchase of Chinese FK-3 anti-aircraft missile systems is not as shameless as NATO"