Croatia’s Cold War-era MiG-21 fighter fleet enters twilight months of service

As originally planned, the Croatian Air Force (CroAF) is set to begin retiring its aging fleet of Cold War-era MiG-21 Fishbed fighters in the coming months, with the type being replaced by a fleet of second-hand Dassault Rafale B/Cs. Currently, just six MiG-21s remain in active CroAF service, comprising four single-seat MiG-21bisD fighters and two dual-seat MiG-21UMD ‘Mongol-B’ fighter-trainers. The first of these were expected to be withdrawn from use by the end of 2023, with the process expected to