http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #364 JULY 2018 // 97
Airforces
Intelligence‘In association with ....’Croatia obtained two second-
hand Canadair CL-215s in
1995 followed by a turboprop
CL-415 Super Scooper
version in 1996, and two more
CL-415s the following year.
It also obtained two single-
engined Air Tractor AT-802Fs with
wheeled undercarriage in 2001.
All were initially civil-registered
within the firefighting branch of
the Croatian Ministry of Interior.
However, at the end of 2001 the
unit was transformed into the 855.
PPE within the HRZ’s 93.ZB and
the aircraft received military serials.
In 2003, Croatia sold both
CL-215s and bought another
CL-415. Five years later, three
AT-802A Fire Boss amphibians
were delivered, followed by
another two examples and one
CL-415 in 2009. The sixth CL-415
was purchased in 2010 while
the last Fire Boss was bought in
2014, this time a two-seat version,
enabling the HRZ to train its
Fire Boss pilots independently.
Fighting fires from the air is
not an easy task and the PPE
lost one land-based two-seat
AT-802F in 2004 and a single-
seat AT-802A Fire Boss with
wheeled undercarriage in 2011.
Both incidents were non-fatal.
Today, the PPE has six CL-415
Super Scoopers, one land-based
two-seat AT-802F, four single-
seat AT-802A Fire Bosses (one
of which was converted as a
land-based version) and one
two-seat AT-802 Fire Boss.
Last year the squadron had
nine CL-415 crews with a tenth
crew on its way to becoming
fully qualified. For the Air Tractor
platoon, the PPE had nine pilots
for the land-based version of
which seven were also qualified
for the Fire Boss amphibian.
The squadron has a total of 29
pilots and it is planned that all
will be qualified to fly both the
CL-415 and AT-802 by 2022.
One of the HRZ CL-415 crews,
led by Maj Ivica Markač, achieved
a record 160 water-drops over
seven flying hours in a single day
in September 2013. There were
fewer restrictions back in the 1980s,
when a Yugoslav Air Force CL-215
crew led by Capt Radovan Katanić
from Zemunik achieved 225 drops
over 11hrs 30mins in one day.
The PPE’s participation in the
international firefighting effort
in Israel impressed its hosts
so much that they invited the
HRZ to bring a pair of CL-415s
to train together with Israeli Air
Tractors in June last year.The future
The HRZ’s pair of An-32B Cline
tactical transport aircraft was
withdrawn from use in 2013 andthe former Eskadrila transportnih
aviona (ETA, Transport Aviation
Squadron) no longer exists. This
leaves the two Hip squadrons as
the basis of the HRZ transport
element. The overhaul of ten
Mi-171Sh helicopters is due to
be completed by mid-2019.
Currently, Croatia does not have
a clear plan to fulfil its tactical air
transport requirement. However,
as the HRZ turns increasingly
towards Western equipment,
government officials have already
shown serious interest in replacing
its ageing Mi-8s with modern
UH-60 helicopters with the support
of the US government. At the
end of last year, the Ministarstvo
obrane Republike Hrvatske
(MORH, Republic of Croatia
Ministry of Defence) began talks
to obtain the first two second-
hand UH-60s, to be used by the
Zapovjedništvo specijalnih snaga
(ZSS, Special Operations Forces
Command) at Delnice camp.
The most solid consensus has
been achieved over the need tofinally purchase a modern fighter.
Under a $480m deal, Israel will
deliver ten single-seat F-16C and
a pair of two-seat F-16D Block
30 fighters with basic US air-to-
air missiles and ammunition, a
simulator, initial spares package,
ground technical support and new
hangar infrastructure. A ‘train-the-
trainers’ programme for Croatian
pilots, technicians and engineers
in Israel is also included. One
single-seat F-16C and one two-
seat F-16D are slated to arrive
in 2020. A further six F-16s
should be available in 2021 while
the last four single-seaters are
scheduled to arrive in 2022. The
MORH expects to use the multi-
role F-16s for the next 25 years.
Finally, with financial support
from NATO funds, Croatia is in
the process of modernising its
integrated airspace command and
control system under the alliance’s
Air Command and Control System
Software Based Extension
project. This work is expected
to be completed after 2020.Left: Croatian CL-415s have
also fought fi res in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Greece, Israel, Italy,
Macedonia, Montenegro and
Portugal. Jadranko Ećimović
Right: The HRZ’s two An-32B
transports were withdrawn from use
in 2013 and offered for sale but no
customer has been found to date. In
future, tactical air transport needs
may well be fulfi lled by US-supplied
UH-60 Black Hawks. Antonio Prlenda
Above: To date, one pilot from Macedonia, one from Bosnia and Herzegovina and two from the Czech Republic have
graduated from the helicopter training course at Zemunik. Jadranko EćimovićAFM