Croatia has picked its supplier for fighters to replace its geriatric and largely unreliable MiG-21 fleet. Israel, which offered options to provide surplus F-16A/Bs as well as younger F-16C/Ds, has been awarded a $500M contract to furnish a dozen D model F-16s to the Croatian Air Force.

The competition for the country's small fighter tender was significant. Three countries offered used F-16s, including the United States, Greece, and Israel. Sweden offered-up the JAS-39C Gripen. In the end Israel won out not with its retired F-16A/Bs 'Netz' fighters but with two-seat F-16D 'Barak' models, the oldest of which are now 30 years old. Croatia's defense council said the following on Tuesday according to the Times of Israel:

“The defense council… has accepted that Israel made the best offer and gave a recommendation to the government to decide on acquiring."

Israel's F-16Ds are fully missionized and are capable of the same combat abilities as their single seat stablemates, although the D model carries a bit less fuel internally and has slightly different handling characteristics around the outer edges of its flight envelope. The IAF has roughly 125 Baraks in service, making it still the backbone of the service's air combat force. Around 48 of those aircraft are two seat D models.

Efi Elian/Wikicommons IAF F-16D