Croatia takes delivery of Rafale fighter jets

(Photo credit: Office of President of Croatia/Marko Beljan)

The first group of Rafale multi-purpose combat aircraft have landed in Croatia today. 

A ceremonial reception of the first six out of a total of 12 multi-role combat aircraft Rafale, which Croatia purchased from France, was held at the “Colonel Marko Živković” barracks in Velika Gorica, two years and five months after the signing of the agreement with France worth over a billion euros.

The arrival of the last of the 12 contracted aircraft is expected early next year.

The President of the Croatia, Zoran Milanović, said it was an important day for the country. 

(Photo credit: Office of President of Croatia/Marko Beljan)

“This is a great and beautiful day for Croatia. Croatia has acquired a modern air force, almost the latest generation of Western technology, the French Rafale. I thank and congratulate those who worked on this. They have done a good job and there is no dispute or doubt about it. This will be good for us, it will serve us well,” President Milanović said.

(Photo credit: Office of President of Croatia/Marko Beljan)

In his address, President Milanović reminded of the defenders from Ćepin who defended Croatian skies during the Homeland War and all those who laid the foundations of the Croatian Air Force. 

“These are also the people who were brave enough to take, seize, and capture what is ours in difficult, impossible, and indescribably risky conditions,” President Milanović said, adding that these pilots “were the forerunners of these guys today, led by Colonel Perić, a Croatian pilot and commander from Rijeka, who brought this team here today and who landed these planes.”

(Photo credit: Office of President of Croatia/Marko Beljan)

Furthermore, President Milanović mentioned pilots Rudolf Perešin and Danijel Borović in his speech. 

“Croatian pilots and brave people – one of them died, Rudolf Perešin, in combat operations for the liberation of Croatia in Operation Flash in 1995 – gave everything they had. We owe them, as we owe Danijel Borović, a Croatian colonel and holder of the Order of Duke Domagoj, who first brought a combat aircraft to Croatia in February 1992, when he flew blind from Bihać via Zadar to Pula and brought us the first MiG. There is still an indictment for war crimes against this man before the court in Belgrade,” President Milanović emphasized, warning that we are obliged to resolve these matters and repay these people.

(Photo credit: Office of President of Croatia/Marko Beljan)

“But that is the past, a past we do not run away from and must not forget. In the present, we have modern technology, we have more than we can utilize. These planes are among the best in the world,” the Croatian President said, highlighting that the Croatian Armed Forces are more than just an air force. “It is also the coastal guard, it is the ships whose delivery and launch we have been waiting for years. We must finish that because it was supposed to be completed by 2018. We need that, without it, we are not a maritime country. We need ammunition, we need all those things we cannot access right now because the situation is bad in Ukraine and worldwide,” he said.

Therefore, he continued, “we must always take care of our interests,” explaining: “To take care of keeping operational those Panzer howitzers that we procured in 2012 and procure more because that’s how the country is defended. Currently, almost a hundred Bradleys are being refurbished at Đuro Đaković, which we managed to extract at the last moment amidst a strange series of events. This is now in Croatia, almost a hundred vehicles, and that means a lot to Croatia. We will get them at a significantly lower price than what we would pay for something new. That was a good move, albeit a complicated path to it. That Bradley will cost three times less than the average Patria, yet it’s twice as valuable. Every soldier knows that. Every commander and politician must know that and ensure it,” President Milanović emphasized.

(Photo credit: Office of President of Croatia/Marko Beljan)

Finally, the President congratulated everyone involved in the procurement of the multi-role combat aircraft Rafale as well as “those who continue, who take responsibility for these expensive, lavish assets that not everyone has, especially not in the region. I urge them to be responsible, to safeguard our sky, their lives, and their security, their children, and their families, and to be courageous, brave, prudent, and to choose the middle path between extremes. To the Croatian Army, our heroes, thank you once again and stay faithful to the homeland,” President Milanović concluded his address.

The procurement of 12 multi-role combat aircraft Rafale was contracted in November 2021, based on the previous decision of the Croatian Government, which in May of the same year selected the offer of France as the most favorable. Technical agreements and three contracts were signed with Dassault Aviation, MBDA France, and Safran Electronic & Defense, with the total value of these contracts being 1.15 billion euros. 

Financial resources for the purchase of multi-role combat aircraft will be provided in the budget of the Ministry of Defense, and payment will be made over a six-year period, starting from 2021 until 2026. According to the contracts, Croatia is procuring 12 used Rafale F3-R aircraft, ten single-seaters, and two two-seaters, from France. 

(Photo credit: Office of President of Croatia/Marko Beljan)

Along with the 12 aircraft, there is also a flight simulator that will enable the pilots of the Croatian Air Force to undergo comprehensive training, as well as ground and testing equipment and spare parts. According to expert projections, the multi-role combat aircraft Rafale should serve the Croatian Air Force for the next 30 years.

(Photo credit: Office of President of Croatia/Marko Beljan)

In addition to President Milanović, numerous other state officials, representatives of the Croatian Parliament, the Government of the Republic of Croatia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ivan Anušić, Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid, Commander of the Croatian Air Force, Brigadier General Michael Križanec, as well as civilian and military dignitaries from Croatia and abroad, attended the ceremony marking the reception of the first group of multi-role combat aircraft Rafale at Pleso.