Croatia expands its Black Hawk helicopter fleet with US help

WARSAW, Poland — Croatia has signed a letter of acceptance with the United States to purchase eight UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for the country’s armed forces.

Under the deal, the U.S. government will cover 51% of the contract’s value, while the remainder will be covered by Croatia in the years 2025 to 2027, the Croatian Ministry of Defence said in a statement. Zagreb will spend more than US $273.8 million on the acquisition.

In January 2024, the U.S. State Department approved a Foreign Military Sale of helos and related gear and services to Croatia for an estimated cost of $500 million. Deliveries of the copters are expected to be completed in 2028, according to the Croatian ministry’s statement.

“This is a big and important moment for the [Croatian] Armed Forces, and for the whole of Croatia,” said Ivan Anušić, Croatia’s deputy prime minister and defense minister who took part in the official signing ceremony on March 13. “I will continue to deepen the ties and cooperation with the United States of America, and I hope that we will cooperate on a number of other large projects.”

Owing to the latest contract, the Croatian military will be able to bring its Black Hawk fleet to a total of 12 twin-engine, medium-lift helos.

Alongside many other allies in the region, Croatia has intensified efforts to modernize its armed forces in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For this year, Zagreb plans to spend some €1.17 billion ($1.28 billion) on defense, an increase of about 11% compared with 2023, according to data from the defense ministry.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——克罗地亚已与美国签署接受函，将为该国武装部队购买八架UH-60M黑鹰直升机。

根据协议，美国政府将承担合同金额的51%，剩余部分将由克罗地亚在2025年至2027年期间支付。克罗地亚国防部在一份声明中表示，萨格勒布将为此次采购花费超过2.738亿美元。

2024年1月，美国国务院批准向克罗地亚出售直升机及相关设备和服务，预计总价值5亿美元。克罗地亚国防部声明称，直升机的交付预计将于2028年完成。

“这对克罗地亚武装部队乃至整个克罗地亚来说都是一个意义重大的时刻，”克罗地亚副总理兼国防部长伊万·阿努希奇在3月13日的正式签字仪式上表示，“我将继续深化与美国的联系与合作，并希望我们能在其他一些大型项目上开展合作。”

由于最新合同，克罗地亚军方将能够将其黑鹰直升机机队规模扩大到 12 架双引擎中型运输直升机。

与该地区许多其他盟友一样，克罗地亚在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后加大了军队现代化力度。据国防部数据显示，今年萨格勒布计划在国防上投入约11.7亿欧元（12.8亿美元），比2023年增长约11%。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。