Croatia receives final OH-58D Kiowa helicopters

[Zarvan]

Croatia's final 11 OH-58D Kiowa reconnaissance helicopters were delivered on 3 December. Source: Croatian Ministry of Defence

Croatia received 11 more Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed reconnaissance helicopters on 3 December, completing the donation of 16 of the helicopters from the United States.

The helicopters were delivered by a US Air Force C-5 Super Galaxy to the 93rd Air Base of the Croatian Armed Forces in Zemunik, near Zadar.

All 16 helicopters delivered to Croatia were manufactured between 2010 and 2012 as part of the United States' Wartime Replacement Aircraft Program to replace helicopters lost in action in Iraq/Afghanistan. Having seen operation use between 2012 and 2015 the helicopters were listed through the US Excess Defence Articles (EDA) programme after the type was retired from the US Army in April. Croatia was the first nation to enter talks into receiving Kiowas and the first to select individual aircraft.

The overall cost of the acquisition is USD34.8 million, USD20.1 million of which is covered by a US donation and the remainder spread across the Croatian defence budgets from 2016 to 2020. The first five helicopters were delivered on 30 July.

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