Radulovic: The moment when the US approved Pristina's purchase of missiles is interesting

Military analyst Vlade Radulovic says that the decision by the State Department to approve Kosovo's purchase of "Javelin" missiles is not a novelty when viewed from the perspective of the US support for Pristina. However, he finds the timing interesting.

"On the one hand, I don't see anything new; it's clear that the US supports Pristina on its path to independence. From that perspective, there is no novelty; they have trained together and participated in military exercises, and American instructors have trained KSF members, supporting them. From that perspective, there is no novelty, but the timing in which all this is happening is interesting", Radulovic notes for Kosovo Online.

As he adds, the essence lies in Pristina's argument for requesting this weaponry.

"The essence is in Pristina's argument that the US should make a decisive move, which came after the events in Banjska, in the north of Kosovo, following the graffiti 'when the army returns to Kosovo', and as the climax, everything that happened in Banja Luka - the Night Wolves, Putin's pictures, Russian flags. The question is whether this is essentially just a package that Pristina was packaging and sending to America, pointing fingers at Belgrade as if it were a Russian outpost preparing for some kind of aggression, threatening and attacking Kosovo. The accumulation of all this may have led to the point where the US gave the green light", Radulovic states.

When it comes to "Javelin" missiles, as Radulovic explains, it is primarily a modern anti-tank system with a successful range of about two and a half kilometers, and there are versions where the range reaches just over four kilometers.

It is a tandem warhead with the ability to penetrate armor thickness of about 800 millimeters, Radulovic adds, noting that in this way, the United States aligns itself with other countries that have supported the strengthening of the Kosovo Security Force on the path to becoming what Pristina wants to create: de facto and de jure the Kosovo Army.

"The US has supported Pristina before, even helping with the procurement of Humvee vehicles, a little over 50 vehicles, but so far there has been no talk in this format of more complex systems, in that segment of incapacitating the opponent", he notes.

As he adds, earlier, or to date, what has been delivered to Pristina the most, and the country that has worked the most with Pristina in this field, is Turkey. This includes anti-tank systems and various wheeled platforms, i.e., armored transporters, and light tactical vehicles.

"I mean, there were also mortar guns, machine guns, sniper rifles, and many other things that have been delivered in the previous period. Germany and Great Britain have also helped, and now, with this Javelin system, the US is taking a step further by sending Pristina this type of weaponry alongside vehicles", he said.

Speaking about the procedure and the potential time when this weaponry could arrive in Kosovo, Radulovic says he does not want to speculate on that.

"For now, the green light has been given by the United States, and we are waiting for Congress. Once Congress approves, we can expect more concrete steps, i.e., the beginning of delivery to Pristina, and when that will happen remains to be seen. This year is an election year in the US, and I see that in Pristina, they hope it will happen in the near future, whether it will or not, I wouldn't speculate. The procedure is not complicated; it remains to be resolved at the congressional level, and then the mechanisms for concretizing and delivering these systems will be set in motion", Radulovic explained.