The first six of twelve Dassault Rafale multirole fighter aircraft acquired from the French Air and Space Force have arrived in Croatia.
They were welcomed by the President of Croatia Zoran Milanović, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and the Minister of Defence Ivan Anušić, during a ceremony at 91 operational base, near Zagreb.
The six Rafale aircraft arrived from Dassault Aviation’s site in Mérignac and are set to join 191 Squadron of the Croatian Air Force. The next batch of Rafale jets is expected to arrive from the end of 2024, forming a complete squadron by mid-2025.
The procurement of 10 single-seat Rafale C and two twin-seat Rafale B fighter aircraft was finalized in November 2021 and in October 2023 the Croatian Air Force took delivery of them at the Mont-de-Marsan French Air Force Base.
“The mastery with which the Croatian Air Force carried out this first ferry testifies to the excellence of its pilots and personnel, and brilliantly illustrates the quality of Croatia’s cooperation with France. 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”, declared Éric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation.
Manufactured by Dassault Aviation, the Rafale is a twin-engine multirole fighter aircraft capable of performing a wide variety of missions, including ground and sea attacks, reconnaissance, precision strikes, and nuclear strike deterrence.
