 deal, the government said Thursday, just days after a parliamentary committee backed the purchase of US-made rocket systems, Agence France-Presse reported.){kind=link}
Croatia will buy lethal drones from Turkey in an 86 million euro ($91 million) deal, the government said Thursday, just days after a parliamentary committee backed the purchase of US-made rocket systems, Agence France-Presse reported.
A statement from the government said it had approved purchases of the armed unmanned Bayraktar TB2 aerial system through 2026.
It said the deal, which includes six drones as well as various pieces of equipment and training of experts, would enable Croatia’s army “to successfully respond to contemporary threats.”
On Tuesday, the parliamentary committee for defense backed the procurement of eight HIMARS missile systems from the United States worth nearly $290 million.
The army chief of staff Tihomir Kundid said it would mean a “new era in artillery missile units” in the country.
Drones developed by Turkish defense contractor Baykar, whose chairman Selçuk Bayraktar is the son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have been exported to at least 30 countries and have been used in conflicts in Azerbaijan and Libya in addition to Ukraine. Many say the company owes its success to Erdoğan, who personally promotes Baykar drones during his visits to foreign countries, as a result of which agreements worth of millions of dollars are signed.