On April 25, 2024, a welcome ceremony took place at the “Colonel Marko Živkovi?” barracks in Velika Gorica as the Croatian Air Force received the first six of a total of 12 Dassault Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets that will operate in the 191st Fighter Squadron of the 91st Wing. Croatian Air Force pilots flew the Rafale planes – four single-seaters and two two-seaters – in from the France, where the training and education of Croatia’s air and ground crews takes place. The Rafale fighter jets will eventually take over Air Policing in the Croatian skies. The protection of the Croatian airspace is integrated into NATO arrangements and overseen by Allied Air Command in Ramstein, Germany, and the Alliance’s southern Combined Air Operations Centre at Torrejon, Spain.
Croatia received a proposal for 12 used Rafales F3Rs in September 2020 as part of a bid to replace the Croatian Air Force’s MiG-21s. The total package offered costs €1 billion (including weapon systems, spare parts, logistics and training), and competed with new F-16V Block 70, Israeli used F-16C/D Barak raised to ACE configuration, and Saab Gripen. On 28 May 2021, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovi? announced the purchase of 12 used Rafales F3-R C/B on order, 10x single-seater C F3-R and 2x two-seater Rafale B F3Rs. The contract was signed on 25 November 2021. The first six were scheduled to be delivered by May 2024 (2 Bs, 4 Cs) and the remaining 6 single-seaters in 2025.
https://militaryleak.com/2024/04/27/croatian-air-force-receives-first-six-dassault-rafale-fighter-jets/
