Croatia Fighter Replacement Competition Proceeds Apace

摘要

Croatia hopes to select a new fighter type by year-end, but defense officials hope the selection will be free of the drama surrounding the last such attempt. After Croatia selected ex-Israeli Block 30 model F-16s in 2018, senior U.S. officials stepped into the fray. They prevented Tel Aviv from making the transfer until the aircraft, which had been extensively modified, was reset to their predelivery standard with NATO-standard communications equipment. The Israelis wanted the U.S. to pay for the reset, but the U.S. refused. The deal was annulled, and Croatia was forced to restart the fighter tender, adding a new delay to the replacement of its aging and largely obsolete MiG-21 Fishbed fighters that date to the 1960s.