TSAMTO, May 24. As reported by the Jutarnji list publication, citing informed anonymous sources, the Croatian government has decided to purchase 12 Rafale F3R multi-purpose fighters from the French Air Force.
The official decision must be announced by the Government on Armed Forces Day. At a meeting of the Defense Council held on May 20, the government received support for the purchase of fighter jets.
After the official announcement of the decision, Croatia and France will continue negotiations on the terms of the contract.
According to the publication, the service life of the oldest aircraft proposed by Croatia is 10 years. According to preliminary information, Croatia will pay about 1 billion rubles. euro for a package that includes fighters, weapons, as well as maintenance and training services.
If the contract is signed this year, France will deliver the first six aircraft in 2024, and the remaining six a year later.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said he had not made recommendations to the government on what type of aircraft to purchase, but hoped "he and the Prime Minister understand each other well." The President said that the planes should arrive in Croatia no later than 2024.
As reported by TSAMTO, the Croatian Defense Ministry intends to purchase aircraft to replace the MiG-21bisD / UMD in service. In July 2019, the Defense Committee of the Croatian Parliament agreed to resume the procedure for the purchase of fighter jets in order to ensure independent protection of the country's airspace after an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the deeply modernized F-16C / D Block.30 in Israel.
In January 2020, the Croatian leadership sent requests for proposals to seven countries as part of the purchase of 12 fighter jets. Invitations for the delivery of new aircraft were sent to the United States (F-16) and Sweden (Gripen), and for former fighters in service - to Greece, Israel and Norway (F-16), Italy (Typhoon) and France (Rafale).
By September 9, 2020, Sweden, the United States, France and Israel had submitted their proposals for the supply of fighter jets. So, the United States offered the new F-16 Block-70/72, Sweden-JAS-39C/D "Gripen" company Saab, France - "Rafale" from the Air Force, and Israel-the former F-16 Block-30. Norway refused to participate in the competition. Greece and Italy were unable to respond within the deadline.
By November 11, 2020, four applicants had submitted their best and final bids (BAFO). The appointed commission for the purchase of multi-purpose combat aircraft was to evaluate the proposals, develop recommendations for the purchase of fighters and submit them to the parliament and the government for consideration.