Rosoboronexport Documents: Serbia Sought to Modernize Mi-35 With Help From Russia

Serbia was working on a project to modernize former Cypriot Mi-35P helicopters in collaboration with the Russian Helicopters design and manufacturing company.

This is evidenced by internal documentation from the Stella-K company, which was obtained by the Black Mirror hackers.

The Russian special exporter Rosoboronexport sent a request for the cost of installing the President-S missile defense system on the customer’s 688 helicopters. The customer is Serbia.

The work was being carried out as part of a project to modernize Mi-35P helicopters to the Mi-35M standard, which was initiated by the Serbian side in July 2022.

According to the documents, the first stage of modernization involved upgrading four aircraft, with the cost estimated by the Russian side at a minimum of €12.6 million:

• Finalization of the aircraft and installation of the President-S defense system – €462,244
• President-S defense system – €2,325,244
• Research and development work on modernization – €862,095
• Vibration compensator – €164,685

According to the document, the repair and modernization of the helicopters were planned to take place between 2024 and 2026 – shortly after eleven former Cypriot Mi-35P aircraft were delivered to Serbia.

The records also indicated that the installation of the President-S system was planned to take place on the customer’s territory during the overhaul process.

In September 2024, it was reported that the Serbian UTVA company had repaired the first six Mi-35P helicopters, after which they had entered combat duty with the country’s armed forces.

However, in later photos of these helicopters, there were no signs of integration of the Russian system: ultraviolet missile launch detectors and laser countermeasure systems, which are typically installed on the aircraft’s fuselage.

The project’s timeline has not yet passed, but it is highly likely that it will not be realized. Earlier this year, the head of the Serbian General Staff, Milan Mojsilović, announced the termination of several defense contracts with Russia.

He stated that the delivery of contracted Russian weapons was virtually impossible. Some contracts were canceled, while others were postponed in the hope that the situation would normalize, allowing them to be implemented.

Militarnyi uncovered in additional leaked documents from the Russian corporation Rostec evidence of inflated prices for Russian weapons, with costs being marked up by as much as double for foreign buyers.