Minister of Defense Damir Krstičević announced in Split that Croatian soldiers in the peace mission in Afghanistan will be armed with the Croatian rifle VHS 2.
“The next contingent of the Croatian Army, the seventh in a row, will be armed with the Croatian rifle VHS 2, and this will be the first time that our soldiers in Afghanistan will have our rifles. It is a significant achievement that they will carry our top-quality rifles directly on the front line,” said Minister Krstičević to reporters during a tour of the Adriatic Military and Aviation Exhibition as part of ASDA 2017, which opened on Wednesday at the Spaladium Arena.
He emphasized that there is interest in this rifle and HS product’s offerings from many countries, which will be discussed with foreign delegations at ASDA 2017 during numerous meetings.
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When asked how he comments on information that instead of outdated aircraft of the Croatian Air Force, American military aircraft F-16 will be procured (which flew over the Poljud harbor during a demonstration military exercise today), Minister Krstičević responded that Croatia is in the phase of exploring “all options” and ways to address these issues.
He highlighted discussions with several delegations from countries present at the ASDA exhibition.
“There is also an American delegation dealing with aviation issues, and I had a meeting with that delegation last night. There are representatives from Israel, as well as a representative from Korea. Therefore, we are going to responsibly consider all options and choose what is best for Croatia at this moment,” said Minister Krstičević, reminding that the Croatian delegation was in Israel and that last week the Croatian expert team returned from Romania. He emphasized that Croatia needs a military aviation.
“If we want to be a state and for others to consider us a state, we need that capability,” assessed Minister Krstičević, adding that the Croatian Army is not the same with that capability or in the absence of it. He also stated that one must be aware of the limitations. “We want this project to be affordable for us, that we can sustain it,” concluded Minister Krstičević in response to a question regarding the procurement of military aircraft that would replace outdated ones in the Croatian Air Force.
