ZAGREB, January 27, 2018 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday that the procedure for the evaluation of bids for the procurement of fighter jets for Croatia’s Air Force was under way, and added that this topic was on the agenda of his talks in Davos not only with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but also with his Greek counterpart Alexsis Tsipras as well as with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Loefven in mid-November.
Plenković’s statement in Davos on Friday ensued after the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issued a press release reading that “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday in Davos, met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković; they agreed to move forward on the sale of Israeli F-16s to Croatia according to the terms of the tender. This development is a further expression of the deep ties between the two countries.”
Commenting on the press release, Plenković said that he had also discussed the same topic with Greek PM Tsipras on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.
Considering the plan for procurement of fighter jets, Plenković said today that consultations were part of that. “We will make a final decision after we are sure from all aspects that we are making the right choice and long-term solution for the Croatian Air Force for the next 30 years,” Plenković said on Friday.
Offers for the procurement of multi-purpose combat aircraft, to replace the Croatian Air Force MiG 21 jets that have been in use since the 1991-1995 war, were opened at the Croatian Defence Ministry in Zagreb on 3 October 2017, and the bids were presented by representatives of Greece, Israel, Sweden and the United States.
The aircraft to be purchased are various models of the F-16 jet, which are offered by Greece, Israel and the USA and which are part of these countries’ air forces, and the JAS 39 Grippen fighter jet, manufactured by the Swedish concern SAAB. Croatia is expected to buy a squadron of combat jets.
On 4 October, Croatian Defence Minister Damir Krstičević said that “the United States is offering new F16 jets, Israel is offering used F16C jets, Greece is offering used F16C jets and Sweden new Grippen jets.”
Krstičević said then that the deadline for the purchase of the planes was 2020, when Croatia would chair the EU for the first time and when the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm would be marked. He added that six more jets would be bought in 2021 and another four in 2022, and that the Croatian Air Force would have 12 fighter jets in total.
In mid-November, Plenković travelled to Sweden for the European Union’s Social Summit in Gothenburg, and on that occasion he held talks with his Swedish counterpart Loefven on the strengthening of bilateral economic and scientific cooperation as well as on defence cooperation since the Swedish Saab Group manufactures Gripen aircraft, one of the few options the Croatian Defence Ministry is considering for the procurement of fighter jets.
