Croatia retires MiG‑21s, pivots to modern airborne power
The Croatian Ministry of Defence announced that, as of 1 December this year, MiG-21 aircraft have been retired from combat service. The planes, which were once purchased from Ukraine, will be replaced by much more modern aircraft that Croatia is acquiring as part of a comprehensive army modernisation effort.
As noted by the portal The War Zone, Croatia was the last user of this type of aircraft in Western Europe. It bought 40 MiG-21 fighters from Ukraine in the 1990s, half of which were immediately used for spare parts.
The MiG-21 was produced between 1959 and 1986. Today, it no longer holds significant value, especially in Croatia, as it only had basic aircraft guns and short-range R-60 missiles for the MiG-21.
Croatia withdraws MiG-21 from service
According to The Military Balance 2024 report, at the start of this year, the Croatian Air Force had seven remaining MiG-21 aircraft in service. Despite their retirement from combat duty, it's possible that they may still be of some use, for instance, as training platforms.
In the near future, Italy and Hungary will oversee the safety of Croatian airspace. They will patrol the region under NATO commitments, using Eurofighter jets from Italy and JAS 39 Gripen jets from Hungary.
New fighters for the Croatian Air Force
Croatia is equipping itself with Rafale fighters, which it is acquiring under an agreement with France. However, the operational readiness of the first Rafale fighters received from this country is expected to be announced only at the beginning of 2026. So far, Zagreb has received five such aircraft and will eventually have a total of 12. The Rafale is a multirole fighter (depending on the version, single-seat or twin-seat) capable of speeds over 1,100 mph and operating at altitudes up to about 17,000 metres.
The Croatian Air Force is also expanding with UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters. To strengthen the country's army, contracts have also been signed for Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones, HIMARS rocket artillery systems, and Leopard 2A8 tanks.
