It was the first event of the kind for Croatian and British fighter squadrons, which fostered the alliance and upgraded the capabilities of the Croatian Air Force for operation in international environments and also raised the standards required to receive in the aircraft from Allied member nations.<\/p>\n
The commander of the Croatian Air Force Brigadier General Mato Miki\u0107, the Commander of the Fighter Aircraft Squadron Lieutenant Colonel Christian Jagodi\u0107, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom the Republic of Croatia H. E. Andrew Dalgleish and the Defence Attach\u00e9 Lieutenant Colonel John Anthony Carswell Kelly all welcomed the co-operation of the armed forces of the two countries.<\/p>\n
The Commander of the Croatian Air Force Brigadier General Mato Miki\u0107 said that the exercise of the FLYING SABRE were fulfilled and it affirmed the good co-operation between the two air forces.
\nBrig Gen. Miki\u0107 also stated: \u201cI am glad to learn that the Croatian pilots have made such a good impression on their British colleagues. The training events of the kind serve to intensify our co-operation and raise our ambitions for new expertise with regard to the introduction of the mutli-role fighter aircraft in the Croatian Air Force by 2020. This Exercise showed that the Croatian pilots, air technicians and engineers will have little difficulty converting to the new F-16 fighter aircraft\u201c, said the Commander of the Croatian Air Force.
\nThe Exercise \u201cFlying Sabre 18\u201c comprised a group flying training, VFR flying and close air combat.
\nCaptain Lukan of the Fighter Squadron also commended the co-operation.
\n“Our objective was to test our preparedness and trainedness and to acquire new knowledge and enable our British colleagues gather new capabilities as well”.<\/p>\n