Serbia Trains Chinese FK-3 Air Defense Missiles Against Drones and Aircraft.

The Serbian Army’s 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade is conducting intensive operational training with the FK-3 surface-to-air missile system, also known as the HQ-22, a Chinese-made medium-range air defense platform introduced into Serbian service in 2022. Designed to defend national airspace against aircraft, drones, and precision-guided weapons, the system is increasingly positioned by Belgrade as a core element of Serbia’s modern ground-based air defense posture.

In February 2026, Serbian military channels reported that the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade is carrying out an intensive operational training cycle with the FK-3 surface-to-air missile system, the export variant of China’s HQ-22 developed by the People’s Republic of China. Battalion commander Major Vladan Škrkić stressed that the unit’s permanent mission is the protection of the airspace of the Republic of Serbia, with current drills focused on the preparation and execution of air defense operations against aircraft, unmanned platforms, and precision strike threats using one of the country’s most capable ground-based air defense systems.
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The FK-3 is the export variant of the Chinese HQ-22, a medium/long-range surface-to-air missile developed as a second-generation successor to the HQ-12 (Picture source: Serbian MoD)

The 250th Brigade sits at the heart of Serbia’s air defence structure, and the FK-3 is not treated as a symbolic acquisition but as a practical tool for restoring depth in medium-range coverage. In recent years, the accelerating proliferation of drones, cruise missiles, and electronic warfare systems compresses reaction time for air defenders, forcing smaller states to field systems able to track, engage, and relocate under pressure. Serbia’s emphasis on intensive training therefore reflects a simple operational reality: modern air defence is won through procedures, sustained crew proficiency, and the ability to keep a firing unit alive after it emits and shoots.

Serbia signs for the system in 2020, in a contract that also includes the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation-made CH-92 armed drone, and the delivery becomes visible in April 2022 through an unusually high-profile air bridge. According to Defense News journalist Mike Yeo, China uses Y-20 heavy-lift transport aircraft to fly FK-3 missiles and associated equipment to Serbia on April 9, 2022, making the transfer operationally and politically unmistakable. On April 11, 2022, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian confirms the delivery publicly, presenting it as part of the annual bilateral cooperation plan, explicitly stating it targets no third party and “has nothing to do with the current situation.”

This delivery matters because it anchors the FK-3 not only in Serbian force structure but in strategic signaling. It is the first time a Chinese medium and long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system is exported to a European country, and it surprises many Russian media outlets that expect Belgrade to pursue the Russian S-300 family instead. Serbia’s choice is therefore interpreted as both capability-driven and diplomatic: it strengthens national air defence while widening the portfolio of suppliers and reducing dependence on any single partner.

The FK-3 is the export variant of the HQ-22, a medium/long-range surface-to-air missile developed as a second-generation successor to the HQ-12. The HQ-22 is manufactured by Jiangnan Space Industry, also known as Base 061, a part of China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation Limited (CASIC). A downgraded export-oriented form, the FK-3, is revealed in 2014, and the HQ-22 itself is publicly presented later as an improved version of the FK-3 at Zhuhai Airshow 2016. The HQ-22 enters service with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2017 and rapidly becomes one of its principal air defence missiles, with reports of HQ-22 deployments near Indian territory in eastern Ladakh in April 2021.

In Serbian service, the FK-3 delivers a medium-range engagement layer with a technical profile that sits between legacy short-range point defence systems and high-end strategic interceptors. The missile retains the HQ-22 domestic version’s top speed of Mach 6, while its maximum range is reduced from 170 km to 150 km in the export configuration. This range band is operationally meaningful for a state the size of Serbia: it allows batteries to cover critical infrastructure, command nodes, and key corridors from standoff distances, while still being mobile enough to complicate adversary targeting.

Guidance architecture is another defining feature. The HQ-22 is described as using semi-active radar homing and radio-command guidance, and the missile can employ semi-active radar homing composite guidance or radio-command guidance across the engagement. The system is designed to begin with semi-active radar homing, and if it encounters strong electronic interference, it can automatically shift to radio-command guidance. This design choice points to a priority placed on resilience under electronic attack, a growing requirement as modern air operations routinely integrate jamming, decoys, and electronic support measures.

The FK-3 is also marketed and described as multi-target and multi-threat. It is reported to be able to engage ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Even when such claims are treated cautiously, they align with what Serbian air defenders need in practice: a system able to deal with mixed raids, where drones are used to expose radar emissions, cruise missiles fly low to exploit terrain masking, and manned aircraft hold outside engagement zones to deliver standoff munitions.

Battery composition and launcher configuration further explain why Serbia places such emphasis on training cycles. A typical HQ-22 battery is described as including one radar vehicle and three launcher vehicles, each launcher carrying four missiles, for a total of twelve ready-to-fire rounds per battery. Each battery can supposedly engage six air targets simultaneously, a figure that, if accurate, supports the concept of layered defence against saturation attempts. The launcher vehicle is based on an 8x8 chassis manufactured by the Hanyang Special Purpose Vehicle Institute, reinforcing the system’s road mobility and the tactical expectation of frequent displacement.

The FK-3’s main contribution is to strengthen Serbia’s area defence posture by extending engagement reach while retaining mobility. A battery can defend high-value fixed sites, but it can also operate as a maneuver element, shifting locations to create uncertainty and deny predictable targeting. In contested conditions, its survivability depends on how well the brigade manages emissions, timing, and displacement. The system’s reported ability to adapt guidance under electronic interference supports a doctrine where air defence is expected to fight through jamming rather than disengage, while its simultaneous engagement capacity supports a layered response against multi-axis raids. Yet constraints remain structural: any ground-based air defence is vulnerable to suppression campaigns, loitering munitions, and saturation tactics, making training, discipline, and integration with the broader air picture the decisive factors.

Serbia’s continued FK-3 training cycle ultimately highlights the system’s practical value as a mobile medium-range layer built for modern air defence conditions. With a reported top speed of Mach 6 and an export-range cited at up to 150 km, the missile provides the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade with a wider engagement envelope against aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and UAVs, while its semi-active radar homing and radio-command guidance architecture, including an automatic switch under heavy jamming, is designed to preserve engagement continuity in an electronically contested environment.