Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanovi?, Ph.D., told the Radio Television of Serbia that in 2022, the Serbian Army will get new 12 PASARS-16 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and 18 sets of French Mistral 3 surface-to-air man-portable air-defense system that will be mounted on PASARS systems. Unveiled in 2017 as a prototype based on older FAP 2026 off-road military chassis by a Serbian state-owned intermediary company for the import and export of defense-related equipment Yugoimport SDPR, the PASARS-16 is designed by the Serbian Military Technical Institute in Belgrade with the protected cabin being constructed by Serbian automotive and defense company Zastava TERVO of Kragujevac, Serbia. Three companies are involved in the serial production of PASARS 16, FAP Priboj is producing FAP 2228 6×6 chassis, Zastava TERVO is producing armored cabin while PPT-Namenska AD is a finalist for hydraulics and integrating gun and rockets.
PASARS-16 is a Serbian mobile hybrid self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) air defense system in serial production based on the new Fabrika automobila Priboj 2228 6 × 6 general-purpose off-road military chassis. Mounted at the rear of the vehicle, a rotary cab holds a single barrel Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun and two RLN-1C/170 infrared surface-to-air missiles the system is linked with a modernized M85 Zirafa air defense radar. New programmable ammunition consisting of 1100 Tungsten pellets is developed to be used with 40mm gun giving to system Airburst round firing capability. Gun can use a thermal camera to engage targets. As of June 2020, three versions of PASARS exist Pasars-16 with 40mm gun and 9K38 Igla, Pasars-16 with 40mm gun and Mistral 3 rockets, and Pasars-16 with 40mm gun and RLN-IC/170 rockets. All versions can communicate and obtain data from different radars including Giraffe radar.
The PASARS-16 main armament is the Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft autocannon. Designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors, during the 1970’s Serbian arms manufacturer Zastava Arms acquired from Bofors a license to produce the L/70 version together with the laser-computer group. Ammunition for the autocannon is locally produced for domestic use and export by Serbian ammunition and manufacturing company Sloboda ?a?ak including ammunition of increased range. The PASARS has been spotted with a laser rangefinder and day/night sighting system. Ammunition for the gun is fed in clips from the top with empty casings ejected forward of the mount. System for automatic stabilization and leveling, consisting of hydraulic arms and software that operates them, contributes to the time necessary for emplacement of fire position being extremely short, less than a minute, while the firing rate on targets is five rounds per second. Gun feeding is done using a 44 round charger.
Integration of “Mistral 3 Manpad” with PASARS-16 system, one will have a lethal weapon capable of providing efficient AD protection of armored and mechanized units directly from battle formation, and to open highly efficient fire on targets on the ground. Mistral is an infrared homing man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) manufactured by the European multinational company MBDA missile systems (formerly by Matra BAe Dynamics). Based on the French SATCP (Sol-Air à Très Courte Portée), the portable missile later to become the Mistral began development in 1974. It was initially deployed in 1988 for the first version (S1), 1997 for the second version (M2), and 2019 for the third version (M3). The Mistral entered production in 1989 and is now deployed in various forms by 37 armed forces of 25 countries including Austria, the Brazilian Marine Corps, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, and Venezuela.