As part of NATO DDA activities (Deterence and Defence of Euro-Atlantic Area), an American B-52 aircraft flew over the territories of European NATO member states on Monday, 3 March 2025. The aircraft entered Croatian airspace at 18:18 on the Croatian-Hungarian border near Virovitica, and exited at 18:45 in the Bregana area. During the flight over Croatian airspace, it was escorted by two Rafale multi-role combat aircraft from the 191st Fighter Squadron of the 91st Wing of the Croatian Air Force.
Members of the Air Surveillance and Guidance Battalion (ZMiN) also provided professional support to the aforementioned activity through their participation.
On this occasion, the commander of the 191st Fighter Squadron emphasized that the aforementioned activity was an excellent fit into the joint training and qualification of pilots and other squadron personnel with the aim of achieving the operational goals of the squadron and the Air Force on the new Rafale aircraft.
The commander added: “It is an honor for us to participate in such an exercise where we intercept US Air Force bombers, and when such an exercise is integrated into pilot training, the benefits are multiple. (…) Such events are a real opportunity to improve interception techniques and procedures because a target is intercepted with which not all details of the mission are coordinated. Therefore, such a target and mission brings the pilots and squadron personnel, as well as the ZMiN battalion employees, into as realistic conditions as possible, of course, while respecting all safety procedures.“
