At the French Air Force base in Mont-de-Marsan, the handover ceremony of the first Rafale multirole fighter aircraft to Croatia took place, marking the transfer of ownership between the French Republic and the Republic of Croatia.
Prior to the delivery of the Rafale aircraft to Croatia, members of the French Air Force and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia carried out final preparations on French territory for its acquisition.
The ceremony was attended by Croatian Minister of Defense Mario Banožić, accompanied by the Head of the Office of the President of the Government Zvonimir Frka-Petešić and Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of War Veterans Tomo Medved, as well as a delegation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, headed by the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Admiral Robert Hranj. From the French side, the ceremony was attended by a delegation of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense of the French Republic, headed by the Inspector of the Armed Forces for Combat Aviation, General Luc de Rancourt.
«I want to emphasize that the modernization of the Croatian Air Force will ensure that no one in this part of Europe will have a stronger, more modern and powerful air force,» said Defense Minister Mario Banožić.
See also: Serbia negotiating the purchase of a dozen Rafale fighters with Dassault
The search for a MiG-21 replacement
The 12 Rafale fighter jets were acquired by Croatia to replace its aging fleet of MiG-21 Bis/UMD interceptors, as there were only 3 to 6 units in flying condition.
During 2019 Croatia tried to get hold of a squadron of second-hand Western fighters to get out of its predicament. French Mirage 2000s, U.S. F-16s (new or second-hand), Italian Eurofighters ( second-hand Tranche 1), F-16 A/B MLU from Norway and Denmark, the Swedish Gripen A/B/C/D and F-16 A/B/C/Ds from Israel were offered.
Israel’s bid, for 12 used Barak F-16 C/Ds, was selected as the winner. However, the US blocked the transaction, denying Israel the necessary export permit to resell the F-16s to a third country, as it wanted to impose its own new F-16 Block 70s, which were too costly for the Croatian Defense budget. So they had to start the search all over again.
Finally, in mid-2021 Croatia selected the offer from Dassault and the French Government, for a dozen Rafale F3R fighters (10 single-seat and two twin-seat) to come out of the French Air and Space Force inventory, for around U$S 1,217 million. The Rafale F3R is the most modern standard of this fighter currently in use in the French Armed Forces, being the most modern second-hand fighter with the longest service life of those offered to Croatia.
