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Evo jedan tekst od mog prijatelja i clana MAF-a ,
GERMANY OFFERS TO DONATE 20 F-4F ICE FIGHTERS TO CROATIA
A number of Croatian media revealed during mid-March 2011 that German Government has offered Croatia a donation of 20 F-4F ICE Phantom II twin-engine fighter jets as an replacement for Croatian Air Force and Air Defense Forces (Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo i Protuzracna Obrana - HRZ i PZO) obsolete fleet of MiG-21 fighters. While this information has not been confirmed neither denied by official Berlin and Zagreb it is worth to note that it has became available only weeks after in late January 2011 German Air Force (Luftwaffe) Commander Lieutenant General Aarne Kreuzinger Janik has paid a visit to Croatia for bilateral talks with his Croatian counterpart Major General Vlado Bagaric. Indeed, the announcement about the possible donation of German fighters to Croatia has come in a very specific and critical moment for Croatia that is for some time facing a very difficult decision - to find adequate replacement for its MiG-21s or to wave-off, at last temporary, its supersonic aviation and to leave the protection of Croatian airspace to be solved within NATO collective defense system.
The German donation offer seems like an excellent bypass solution for Croatia since it will provide the Government in Zagreb with relatively smooth achievement of at least two very important goals: keeping the supersonic aviation segment within the Croatian Air Force as a result of which the protection of national airspace will remain responsibility of Croatian Armed Forces (Oruzane Snage Republike Hrvatske - OSRH); and further postponing on an elegant way and for at least 5 years the Ministry of Defence plans for start of the process for selection and purchase of new, modern and expensive multirole fighters for the Croatian Air Force, something that crisis-hit Croatia definitely cannot afford at the moment neither over the following few years. In addition to this, eventual introduction of F-4F ICE in service with the Croatian Air Force will have some other positive effects as it will open new horizons and will offer new capabilities to the Croatian Air Force that apart from getting access to its first NATO-interoperable multirole fighter will also get chance to acquire knowledge, to adjust itself and to exercise on a daily base the Western philosophy of operational use and logistical support of fighter jets. This will certainly be a bridge for overcoming the gap in which Croatian Air Force has found itself due to long operational use of Soviet-era MiG-21 fighters and also a catalyst for operational and tactical transformation of that service in line with its need to appropriately prepare for future operational use of very capable, highly sophisticated and above all extremely expensive multirole fighters that Croatia will, hopefully, purchase for its Air Force in the second-half of this decade. The introduction of F-4F ICE planes in Croatian service would also allow that small Balkan country to become interoperable partner and will, among others, open doors for more serious operational engagements of Croatian Air Force within the NATO Integrated Air Defense System (NATINADS).
While many positive aspects of the eventual transfer of ex-Luftwaffe F-4F ICE fighters to Croatia are very obvious one cannot make final assessment if the German Government offer would be as attractive as it look at a first sight due to the fact that many important details of the offer are still not publicly available. The public and experts opinion, for example, is now short of answers to, for example, the following questions: What will be the cost of infrastructural and other related investments that Croatia will need to make in order to be able to accept and operate without significant problems the planes that will be eventually donated by Germany?; What will be the status of airframes and their engines in terms of remaining time/cycles before overhaul/replacement/retirement once delivered to Germany?; Will Germany ask Croatia to pay for some works that are necessary to be done in order all or part of the airframes to be delivered in fly condition and, if yes, what will be the cost of such Croatian investment?; How many planes will be delivered in flyable condition and if there will be airframes that will be delivered only for use as a source of spare parts?; What is the size and composition, if any, of the spare parts package that will be delivered to Croatia and if spare J79-GE17A engines will be part of that package?; Who is going to provide the logistical support for the planes until Croatia retires them and if there will be transfer of technology and know-how that will allow Croatia to conduct this tasks, at least partially, in its local dedicated facility?; Who is going to provide and under what syllabus the training for future Croatian F-4F ICE crews and ground support personnel and if this is a part of the donation package or Croatia will need to pay for this services, and if yes, how much?; What are the expectation in regards to the time needed for first Croatian F-4F ICE crew to became available and when Croatian Air Force will be able to declare combat-ready its potential F-4F ICE unit?; What is the size and composition, if any, of the weapon package that Croatia will get from Germany and what kind of weapons will be offered for sale and at what prices?; What will be the status of available weapons in terms of remaining time/cycles before overhaul/replacement/retirement?; etc.
While each and all of the answers to above and some other questions could make a significant difference in the final marking of Germany's offer as "excellent bypass solution", "cost-effective alternative" or even "expensive illogical option", it is very likely that German offer will provide Croatian Air Force with systematic solution for replacement of obsolete MiG-21s. On the other side, it is very logical to expect that don't matter of the size of the investments that Croatia will need to make immediately or over the following years, if it decides to accept the German donation, that investment will be certainly considered as expensive due to the fact that Croatian economy is in a very deep crisis and also because Croatian Ministry of Defense is familiar with the cost of operating relatively simple single-engine MiG-21s. However, one must admit that German offer with all its possible odds could be an affordable and maybe even cheap alternative to the purchase of at least 12 single-seat and 4 dual-seat multirole fighters that would be enough to fulfill Croatian Air Force task according 2008 assessment and conclusion of Croatian Ministry of Defence. Finally, if German offer is eventually rejected by Croatia the Government in Zagreb will face a very serious challenge to promptly find adequate replacement of its dying MiG-21 fleet or to face the worst-case scenario in a form of handing over the protection of national airspace to be solved within NATO collective defense system.
Don't matter what the final outcome of German-Croatian negotiations will be Wittmund-based Fighter Wing 71 (Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen") remains the sole Luftwaffe unit that being composed of 711 and 712 Squadrons is still operating 41 F-4F ICE Phantom II fighters and will remain so until their retirement in 2013. Despite its age and impending retirement the remaining JG 71 aircraft are indeed very capable fighters due to the fact that they have been subject to Improved Combat Efficiency (ICE) upgrade program and a number of other improvements implemented over the years. Being extremely well maintained by Luftwaffe logistical support system, JG 71 planes are used by Luftwaffe on a daily base for fulfilling both national and NATO-related obligations that is clearly illustrated by the fact that they have accumulated over 5.000 hours during 2010. Apart from providing 15 minutes 24/7 Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) with two F-4F ICE planes and 60 minutes 24/7 Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) with additional two F-4F ICE fighters for the sky over Germany as a part of NATO Response Force (NRF), the JG 71 is also regularly deployed outside German borders. Within the framework of the NATINADS, six F-4F ICE fighters from JG 71 were used to ensure the protection of Iceland airspace from 1 to 25 June 2010. Currently, two "Richthofen" F-4F ICE fighters are on the front line of NATO providing 15 minutes 24/7 QRA for the airspace of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania under the terms of NATO Baltic air policing mission. This deployment of "Richthofen" will end on 28 April 2011 and will mark the end of operational deployment of German F-4F ICE fighters outside national borders. Indeed, it will mark the start of the final countdown for Luftwaffe F-4F ICE Phantom II operations that will saw phased reduction of annual flying hours from 3.000 to 1.800 to 900 through to 2013.
Meanwhile, Croatia fighter fleet remains composed of 10 MiG-21 fighters (8 MiG-21bisD and 2 MiG-21UMD), all of them operating with the 91st Air Force Base (91 Zrakoplovna Baza) Pula. All those aircraft - the oldest being produced in 1972 and the newest in the year 1980 - have been overhauled and upgraded in 1993 with NATO-compatible communication, navigation and identification equipment by Romanian company Aerostar S.A. that performed the assigned works in close cooperation with Elbit System Ltd. of Israel. Following the upgrade the letter "D" (for "Doradjen" i.e. modified) was added in the original designations of Croatian fighters. Currently, six MiG-21 fighters are available to the Croatian Air Force although only two of them are serviceable at any given moment and available for protection of Croatian national airspace. The Croatian Air Force abilities to protect its national airspace are also under strong pressure of the devastating fact that the life-cycle of remaining Croatian MiG-21 fighters is definitely expiring in November 2013.
COPYRIGHT IGOR BOZINOVSKI
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