Croatia to seek new fighter jets from five countries

Discuss air warfare, doctrine, air forces, historic campaigns, etc.
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
 
Posts: 96
Joined: 16 May 2006, 15:49

by Lasse » 13 Jul 2017, 20:53

ZAGREB (Reuters) - Croatia will next week ask five countries to bid for contracts to supply fighter jets as it tries to modernize its military, the defense ministry said on Thursday.

"Next week we will send requests for proposal for buying fighter jets to five countries: Sweden, the United States, South Korea, Greece and Israel," the ministry said in a statement.

Croatia, a former Yugoslav republic, has been a member of NATO since 2009 and of the European Union since 2013. Its air force currently operates a squadron of outdated MIG-21 fighter jets.

"There are three decisive elements we will consider: the price, a state-to-state rather than solely state-to-company deal, and wider economic cooperation prospects between the countries," the statement said.

The ministry hopes the first new jets could become part of the Croatian air force by the end of 2020 if a decision on the acquisition is taken this year.


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-franc ... ld+News%29

I'm a bit at a loss.. Obviously, they will solicit Sweden for the Gripen. Soliciting the US could be for the F-16, or perhaps the Super Hornet. The only aircraft South Korea could offer would be their T-50 trainer jet, and what on earth are they soliciting Greece and Israel for? Used F-16s?


Elite 5K
Elite 5K
 
Posts: 8407
Joined: 12 Oct 2006, 19:18
Location: California

by SpudmanWP » 13 Jul 2017, 21:13

LM has stated that they can upgrade an F-16 A/B to the new F-16V (Block 70/72) standard which comes with AESA and all the goodies. So if they can get hand-me-downs from somewhere and get LM to do the upgrades, they will have something that is comparable with most of what the EU is flying now.
"The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese."


User avatar
Elite 1K
Elite 1K
 
Posts: 1087
Joined: 06 Aug 2011, 17:18
Location: Nuevo Mexico

by southernphantom » 13 Jul 2017, 21:55

Definitely used F-16A/Bs from Israel. A SLEP and maybe an MLU would produce a fairly decent aircraft, certainly good enough for Croatia's needs.
I'm a mining engineer. How the hell did I wind up here?


User avatar
Elite 1K
Elite 1K
 
Posts: 1183
Joined: 02 Feb 2008, 20:43
Location: Macomb, Michigan

by edpop » 14 Jul 2017, 07:58

The core of the air force is a squadron of 10 modernized MiG-21bisD/UMD fighters (two single-seaters lost in a mid-air collision on 23 September 2010. In 2003 a minor upgrade and an extensive overhaul was performed in Romania, incorporating navigation and communication elements of the Lancer standard to make them interoperable with NATO air forces. The aircraft received no upgrade to their weapons systems. Despite initial plans to replace the MiG-21 fleet with a multi-role aircraft in 2013 (delayed from 2011 due to the financial crisis) and an official tender having been issued in 2008, ongoing budgetary constraints have led to the plan being abandoned. As a cost-saving measure, a decision was made to overhaul seven serviceable aiframes already in service and supplement them with five additional airframes from Ukrspetsexport. This temporary measure will see the fleet return to 8 single-seat and 4 twin-seat fighters that will remain in service only until the end of 2019.
Vietnam veteran (70th Combat Engineer Battalion)(AnKhe & Pleiku) 1967
Retired from Chrysler Engineering


Active Member
Active Member
 
Posts: 196
Joined: 13 Nov 2009, 15:32

by laos » 14 Jul 2017, 19:26

Lasse wrote: and what on earth are they soliciting Greece for?


From what I know Greece offer used F-16 Block 52+ from Peace Xenia IV.



Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests