The check constitutes one of the final steps in the donation process entailing the definition of the helicopters, the weapon systems, the ammunition and missiles, the spare parts for extended maintenance period, the logistic and expert support, the tools, the test and measurement equipment, the ground handling equipment,\u00a0 the computer systems supporting the maintenance,\u00a0 the technical documentation as well as the modalities of transportation of the helicopters to Croatia.
The Team also examined and selected the training simulators to be used for the training of pilots and maintenance technicians specialised for various helicopter systems (flight controls, transmission and engine) and agreed the specifics for the training of aircrew and the conditions for long-term sustainability of new assets and capabilities upon the entry into the operational use by the Croatian Armed Forces.
The Team chose 16 helicopters from the WRA (War Replacement Aircraft) programme, fitted with the standard equipment and weapons for the Warrior configuration,\u00a0 which were shipped to the U.S. Army units from 2012 to 2014. As many as 14 helicopters are still in the operational use by an active unit of the U.S. Army and will be taken over in well-maintained condition, which will significantly reduce the costs of donation (i.e. degreasing, checks , trial\u00a0 flights, procurement of permits to fly and airworthiness certificates).
The helicopters were manufactured in the period 2012-2015, with between 100-600 flying hours logged.\u00a0
The weapons pylons enable four standard weapon combinations figurations of the machine gun,\u00a0 the semi-active laser Hellfire missile, the Air-to-Air Stinger (ATAS) missile and the 2.75″ Folding Fin Aerial Rocket (FFAR).
In addition, all helicopters are provided with the standard passive protection for the crew and the vital parts of the helicopter\u00a0 and the prepared for active counter-measures.
The donation will be agreed and defined by a respective Donation Agreement, upon whose acceptance (the tentative term: early 2016) the delivery of the helicopters is due in the latter part of 2016.
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The expert team of the Ministry of Defence and the Croatian Armed Forces, consisiting of two pilots and two engineers, visited Fort Bragg (NC) and Redstone Arsenal (AL) in the U.S. A. to conduct a thorough technical inspection of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters and other items donated to the Republic\u00a0 of Croatia from the U.S.A. Government\u00a0 surplus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4698,"featured_media":36226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n