Croatia opts for secondhand Rafales

摘要

CROATIA HAS decided to purchase 12 secondhand Dassault Rafale F3-R from France for its multi-role fighter aircraft programme to replace the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence's MiG-21bisD/UMD fleet, which currently comprises just eight airframes. The decision was formally announced by the Croatian Ministry of Defence in a press release on May 28.The French offer for ten single-seat Rafale C F3-Rs and two twin-seat Rafale B F3-Rs is valued at €999 million and was deemed the best proposal. On May 28, the Croatian government officially approved the purchase. They will all be former Armee de I'Air et de I'Espace aircraft, which will be upgraded to F3-R standard prior to delivery. The deal will be formalised through a government-to-government contract later this year. Payment will be in a series of installments.Croatia has been looking for new fighters since mid-2015, but the process has been continually delayed. In 2018, the country was set to purchase 12 surplus Israeli F-16C/DS (ten F-16CS and two F-16Ds) but, in December of that year, the US blocked the deal and it was cancelled in January 2019. The Croatian government then launched a procurement process for a multi-role fighter aircraft on July 4， 2019. Other offers that were submitted were for new F-16C/D Block 70s from the US, new Gripen C/Ds from Sweden and used F-16C/D Block 30s from Israel.