The Military Parade on the occasion of 20th Anniversary of Operation “Storm“

Prior to the central ceremony, the President of the Republic and the Supreme Commander of the Croatian Armed Forces, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović inspected the columns taking part in the parade accompanied by the Defence Minister, Ante Kotromanović and the Chief of the General Staff, General  Drago Lovrić.The ceremony commenced with the national anthem performed by Mia Negovetić (12)and the Croatian Navy Vocal Ensemble “Sveti Juraj” and with hoisting the legendary flag from the Knin Fortress from  1995(brought to Zagreb by the cadets of the Croatian Armed Forces for the Parade) and with a flypast by three MiGs-21 of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence.
Following the order by the President of the Republic the Parade Command Column, composed of the Parade Commander, Rear admiral Robert Hranj and the deputies, Major General Mladen Fuzul and Major General Ivan Jurić led the Parade.
The first columns were the marching columns with the flags of the Republic of Croatia, the European Union, NATO, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior, the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces and the column of banners of wartime units. During the marchpast by the Croatian Defenders Column a 20-volley symbolical salute was fired. Croatia’s long and eventful military tradition was illustrated by the historical units Column, followed by the Cadets Column, the column carrying the partner countries’ flags, the battalions of the Guards Brigades of the Croatian Army and the Special Forces Command, the Croatian Navy, the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence and the Military Police Column .
The marching columns were followed by the aerial programme, conducted by by the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence and the Ministry of the Interior – three Bell 206B JetRanger III helicopters, the Zlin 242 L training aircraft, the Mi-171Sh helicopters, the Air Tractors AT-802 and Canadairs CL-415. The Ministry of the Interior presented three helicopters of the Special Police Command’s Aviation Unit.

The flying programme featured a short performance by the “Wings of Storm“ Aerobatic Team, celebrating its 10th anniversary, with the Pilatus PC9M aircraft. The aerial programme was concluded by a combined tactical exercise by the members of the Special Forces Command and a Mi-8 MTV crew of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence. The members of the Special Forces Command performed the rappeling technique from the National and University Library used in descending from buildings and helicopters, followed by  the “stick“ technique used in extracting the forces as well as in search and rescue actions.
 The motorised, mechanised and armoured columns, led by the Special Forces Command Column, comprising the Guards Motorised Brigade Column, the Military Police Column, the Military Intelligence Column, the Air Defence Column and the NBC Battalion Column,  displayed the multi-purpose Patria vehicles, the HMMWVs, the POLO M-83 combat armoured vehicles , the M-ATV, the coastal mobile launchers, the Iveco Eurocargo ML 140E2 4W vehicles , the field vehicle transporting the tEODor demining robot, the MRAP vehicles  the M84 tanks and two 155-mm PzH Howitzers – the newest asset of the Croatian Armed Forces.
The Engineer Column, the Logistic Column, the Signal Column and the Armoured Mechanised Brigade. Simultaneously with the marchpast by the Croatian Navy Column, the marine salute  by the Naval Column was displayed on the video-wall.

The Ministry of the Interior, of the Firefighter Association and National Protection and Rescue Directorate presented their motorised forces too.  
The Parade was concluded by a flypast of six MiG 21 fighter aircraft of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defence.