The government says it doesn't have enough funds to purchase new aircraft.
Retired pilot Ivan Selak is one of the critics of the government’s decision to purchase old Israeli F-16 military fighter jets. It has been expected for months that Croatia would choose the used Israeli aircraft, but there was no official confirmation until last night, when the Defence Council, led by President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, decided to propose to the government to buy the used Israeli jets, reports Index.hr on March 28, 2018.
For years, Ivan Selak was among the most prominent Croatian military pilots and has remained active even in retirement. “I remain firm in my position. We still don't know how old the aircraft are, how many hours they've spent in the air,” said Selak. “The major problem is the age of the aircraft. Their operational lifespan, whatever others might say, is near the end. The aircraft are becoming more expensive to main. The optimal years, when they're the least expensive to maintain, are between the third and the 22nd year. After 22-23 years, maintenance costs increase drastically. The worst thing is that, as aircraft get older, they spend more and more time with engineers instead of pilots. After thirty years, they're practically useless in operational terms. You can use them mostly for military parades,” said Selak.
Selak added that F-16s were excellent aircraft, which he had himself piloted. But, in this case, they have three significant disadvantages. The first big flaw is the fact that Croatia is buying the planes from the Israelis. That means that the aircraft have been maximally used because Israel has exceptionally high-quality pilots and the Israeli military is often involved in military clashes. The second major flaw is the fact that these are old planes. The third drawback is that they are near the end of their operational life.
“Unfortunately, this will lead to an increase in maintenance and flight costs. They'll break down often. According to estimates, maintenance costs increase by 1.2-1.5% for each year of age,” said Selak. According to him, Croatia will get airplanes which will spend most of their time in hangars and at overhauls. Selak emphasised that the planes would not crash, but they would simply not have top performance features. “They will fly, but the scope of tasks will be narrower than five, ten, fifteen or twenty years ago. The biggest problem, in which I'm absolutely sure, is that they'll spend most of their time in hangars,” said Selak.
So, why is the government then buying these aircraft which will be half a century old in 20 years? “It seems that the reason is that they are the cheapest. Why do we have to buy 12 30-year-old aircraft? Why didn’t we reply to American offer, and ask them for 10-15-year-old aircraft? There's no logic in buying American aircraft from the Israelis. If the United States is our most important ally, we should have asked that country. Or, why didn’t we ask Israel to offer younger planes, which they've got?” asked Selak.
Selak does not think that the aircraft can be used for the next 30 years. “There's no way if we talk about the serious use and not military parades. I agree that we should buy F-16s because that is an excellent plane produced in great numbers. It's much better than Gripen. But, why this rush? Is someone about to attack us? According to what I know, I'm sure that we're making a mistake,” concluded Selak.
Translated from Index.hr.
