Croatia’s first six Dassault Rafale fighter jets landed at Zagreb Air Base on Thursday.
The jets are part of a 12-aircraft acquisition agreement signed by the Croatian government and the French Air Force in November 2023.
The remaining six Rafales will be sent by the end of 2024, with the plan to complete the Croatian Air Force squadron in mid-2025.
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The six jets took off from Bourdeaux, France, and landed in sequence at the air base, where the President of Croatia Zoran Milanović, the Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the Minister of Defense Ivan Anušić were present.
The aircraft were met by water jets and then taxied to the shelters built for them.
“Dassault Aviation is fully committed to completing the full integration and logistic support of the Rafale into the Croatian Air Force, which will contribute to ensuring Croatia’s sovereignty and enable it to successfully carry out its operational missions within NATO”, said Éric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation.
Replacement for the MiG-21
The symbolic delivery of the Rafales, which were previously flown by the French Air Force, took place in October 2023, but since then Croatian Air Force pilots and ground staff have continued training before the aircraft are flown into the country.
Croatia acquired 10 single-seat Rafales and two two-seat fighters for a value of 1.15 billion euros. The supersonic jets will replace the aging Russian MiG-21s, which will be decommissioned in 2024.
