Military analyst Igor Tabak stated on Wednesday that there is little official information available to the public regarding Croatia’s decision to purchase Israeli F-16 fighter jets, emphasizing that there are many open questions that require clarification.
– There is extremely little official data, and most of the stories and discussions are based on newspaper articles, references to unnamed sources, which has been going on for some time. A press conference will be extremely important to explain this decision in more detail, as there are many open questions and things that require clarification, Tabak told Hina when asked how he comments on the decision to purchase Israeli fighter jets.
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– It could have been attempted to pressure manufacturers to achieve better offers, but with the amount of publicly available data, it is very difficult to take a concrete stance, said Tabak.
He welcomed yesterday’s announcement by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Defense Minister Damir Krstičević that they would provide more serious information to the public regarding the purchase of these aircraft.
He believes it would be a shame for such a large and complicated job, significant for Croatia, the Croatian Air Force, and the Armed Forces as a whole, to remain marked by a lack of transparency.
– This is not a topic that will quickly disappear from the stage as we are purchasing aircraft that Croatia will use for a long time, and in a few years, it will be seen how much the system adjustments cost and what the characteristics of the aircraft we are purchasing are, he said.
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Tabak sees one of the problems as the fact that in the decision to purchase aircraft, new and used planes were treated equally in competition, which are different things. He also added that strategic partnership, industrial cooperation, and a whole range of additional elements were scored in the process, but it is unclear how they were scored.
Significant differences
When asked about the criticisms that have emerged in public regarding the purchase of these Israeli aircraft, Tabak explained that there is a significant difference between comparing a new F-16 with a used one, as well as comparing an Israeli modified aircraft with a Greek one without modifications.
– These are very different things within the F-16 category, he said.
He also believes that in public, aside from the expert team and competent authorities, it is not clear how old these Israeli aircraft are, in what condition they are, how broad the package that encompasses the procurement of these aircraft is, and so on.
Tabak considers it a very good decision that Croatia has decided to retain the capability of supersonic fighter aircraft and structurally modernize the Croatian Air Force after many years, but he believes that the selection of specific aircraft was made too quickly as more time could have been taken.
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– It could have been attempted to pressure manufacturers to achieve better offers, but with the amount of publicly available data, it is very difficult to take a concrete stance, he said.
Tabak emphasizes that now, with the procurement of new aircraft, a series of significant changes will need to be undertaken for the Croatian Air Force, such as pilot training, organization, maintenance, infrastructure, and so on.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Damir Krstičević emphasized on Wednesday that this is a project that guarantees the security and sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia, adding that we have made a significant decision to retain the capability of monitoring Croatian airspace and maintaining the tradition of combat aviation.
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The Defense Council accepted on Tuesday evening the opinion of the expert team of the Ministry of Defense that the most favorable offer for a multi-role combat aircraft is the Israeli offer of used F-16 aircraft and recommended the government to make a decision on the procurement.
