The United States has deployed two F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to Croatia’s Air Base in Pleso to “Police” NATO’s southern flank after a Soviet-era drone armed with explosives crashed in Zagreb last week, Euractiv reports.
Citing a press release from US Forces at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the outlet reported that the planes will also execute combat exercises with the Croatian allies “while supporting NATO’s collective defense in Southeast Europe”, US Forces at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany said on Wednesday, according to Euractiv.
The US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) “employs agile forces and strategic capabilities to forward locations to counter threats or aggression through proactive movement alongside Allies and partners,” a press release from the US Embassy in Zagreb said, according to the report.
The press release said that by executing such operations in Croatia, the Air Force builds allied and partner capabilities throughout Southeast Europe and extends into the Mediterranean Sea.
The investigation into the Soviet-era uncrewed aerial vehicle that crashed in Zagreb last week will continue in the coming days and weeks,
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that the investigation into the incident involving the Soviet-era uncrewed aerial vehicle will continue in the coming days and weeks.
“The information that we have is the same as yesterday. This drone is a 14-metre-long rocket armed with explosives. It is being investigated how it passed through without Romanian and Hungarian flight controllers recognizing it in their busy airspace as a serious threat,” the Croatian prime minister said, according to the report.
