The Republic of Croatia is to reach one of the crucial and most complex decisions regarding its defence sector – to retain the capability of control and protection of the national airspace, said in Ministry of Defence.

According to the ministry, the investment into combat aircraft today constitutes the investment into Croatia’s safety and provides stability and future economic development of the country.

The decision on the acquisition of a more modern fighter aircraft was delayed for 15 years, and is preceded by a tactic study and the request for proposals for the acquisition of a multirole combat aircraft.

By 3 October 2017 the proposals were received from the the Hellenic Republic, the State of Israel, the Kingdom of Sweden and the United States of America, responding to the request. All the four bidders being countries with robust defence, industry and technology base to assist Croatia in its own technological and industrial development, employment growth and investments into its economy.

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The proposals from the four countries entail high-tech solutions, transfer of knowledge and experience favouring the development of short-supply industrial solutions related to the procurement of aircraft.

In accordance with the respective timeline, 30 November 2017 saw the conclusion of the validation and evaluation of the four received proposals by the Expert Team assigned with the preparation of the acquisition of the multirole combat aircraft, followed by the Feasibility Study, to base the state-level decision on.

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The decision making comprises the expert opinion of the Defence Committee of the Croatian Parliament and of the Defence Council (the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Finance Minister, the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, the Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Croatian Parliament and the Defence Advisor to the President of the Republic.