Poland and Croatia Expand the Military Cooperation: Rosomak APCs and F-16 Jets

Between 22nd and 24th November, Poland has been officially visited by General Mirko Šundov, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia. During the meeting with his Polish counterpart, General Mieczysław Gocuł, experiences were exchanged within the scope of operational use of the Rosomak APCs (Croats are using the AMV vehicles, the derivative variant of which is manufactured in Poland as KTO Rosomak) and the MRAP vehicles. Moreover, the Croatian party is also interested in learning about the experience Poland had within the process of acquiring the F-16 multi-role fighter aircraft. In the upcoming years, the Croatian Ministry of Defence is looking forward to replace the ageing MiG-21 Fishbed fighters with a new, multi-role jet.

Furthermore, during the bilateral talks, military and terrorist threat in the region have been thoroughly covered, along with the status of the advancement, regarding the process of implementation of the provisions and decisions made during the NATO summit in Warsaw. Chief of the Croatian delegation expressed the Croatian will to expand the military collaboration between the countries.

During the meeting involving General gen. Śundov and Tomasz Szatkowski, Polish Deputy Minister of Defence, cooperation of special forces and military police components of both nations, has also been discussed. Szatkowski also thanked the Croatians for their involvement in the ANAKONDA-16 exercise (engaging, among other units, an element using the AMV platforms). The Polish official expressed a hope to see the continued involvement on the part of the Croatian Army during the next edition of the exercise, which is planned to take place in 2018.