Today, Croatia’s gross domestic
product (GDP) is slowly increasing- although upgrading the armed
forces was not a priority for
post-war governments, and
at present only 1.21% of GDP
is allocated for defence.
Current tensions between Russia
and the EU, and NATO, have created
problems for the Ministarstvo
obrane Republike Hrvatske (MORH,
Republic of Croatia Ministry of
Defence), particularly when it
comes to choosing partners for
overhauling Russian- and Soviet-
made equipment. The government
in Zagreb is aiming for ‘full
Westernisation’ of the HRZ fleet.
Thanks meanwhile to good basic
training and the enthusiasm of its
professional staff, the HRZ manages
to fulfil the three primary missions
of the Oružane snage Republike
Hrvatske (OSRH, Republic of
Croatia Armed Forces), which are: - Defence of the territory,
sovereignty and independence
of Croatia and its allies - Contribution to international
peace-support operations - Support to civil institutions
Air policing ‘Knights’
The first designated mission is
fulfilled by the sole Eskadrila
borbenih aviona (EBA, Fighter
Squadron) and the Bojna Zračnog
motrenja i navođenja (ZMIN, Air
Surveillance and Control Battalion).
The EBA ‘Vitezovi’ (‘Knights’)
squadron is located at the 91.
zrakoplovna baza (91.ZB, 91st
Air Base) on the military side of
Zagreb-Pleso International Airport.
It has eight MiG-21bisD Fishbed-L
single-seat fighters and four MiG-
21UMD Mongol-B two-seat trainers
and regularly maintains a quick
reaction alert (QRA) pair of MiG-
21bisD fighters at Zagreb, under
the NATO Integrated Air and Missile
Defence System (NATINAMDS).
The jets are armed with two
R-60MK (AA-8 Aphid-C) missiles
and a 129-gal (490-lit) drop tank
under their bellies, and operate
from a modern QRA hangar that
can accommodate three fighters.
The QRA pair conducts ‘Tango’
(practice) scrambles weekly.
Following the first three MiG-
21bis fighters obtained by pilots
defecting from the Yugoslav Air
Force in 1992 (two MiG-21bis SAU
Fishbed-Ns and one MiG-21bis-K
Lazur Fishbed-L, local designations
L-17 and L-17K), Croatia managed
to equip two fighter squadrons
during the war with an additional
22 MiG-21bis fighters (19 MiG-
21bis Lazur Fishbed-Ls and three
MiG-21bis SAU Fishbed-Ns)
plus three MiG-21UM Mongol-B
two-seat combat trainers.Above: Two-seat MiG-21UMD trainers are busy preparing new pilots for the
HRZ’s sole fi ghter squadron, the EBA. Tomislav Haraminčić Below: The HRZ
maintains a QRA pair of MiG-21bisD fi ghters at Zagreb-Pleso. Tomislav Haraminčić
http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #363 JUNE 2018 // 105
Airforces
Intelligence‘In association with ....’