Croatia's Defence Minister, Mario Banozic, and the Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff , Admiral Robert Hranj, are on an official visit to the United States to mark the 25th anniversary of Croatia's cooperation with the Minnesota National Guard, as part of the US government's State Partnership Program, state agency Hina reported, citing a press release from the Defence Ministry sent to the media on Wednesday.

This is Minister Banozic’s first official visit to the United States since taking office, Hina said, without specifying when that had happened.

Banozic and Hranj had visited the Sikorsky helicopter factory in Connecticut on Monday, where they met with the company’s executives and Sikorsky president, Paul Lemmo. The company is a subsidiary of the Lockheed Martin aerospace company and makes UH-60 Black Hawk and SH-60 Seahawk helicopters used by the American military.

“Defence Ministry (MORH) points out the importance of military and technological cooperation with the USA which includes donations and the procurement of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters for the armed forces,” Hina said. During the meeting, Minister Banozic reportedly said that the “US donation in 2019 was an important support to Croatia’s national policy aimed at transitioning to equipment originating in the West.”

Banozic was referring to two UH-60 helicopters that had been donated to Croatia in 2019.

“After that donation, we decided to procure two more Black Hawk helicopters and have allocated $85 million for that purpose. Our ambition is to continue developing this investment because, being a reliable and credible member of the Nato alliance, the transition to Western technology is the only possible and correct path,” Banozic reportedly said.

He “expressed his satisfaction that at the moment Croatia’s military pilots and aviation technicians are attending various training courses in the US,” specialising in particular on the  Black Hawk helicopter, Hina said.

“We also have two pilots gaining additional flying hours in Minnesota in cooperation and assistance of the Minnesota National Guard. This is important for us, not only in the context of buying equipment but in the context of security because we will obtain the necessary support in training,” added Banozic.

Black Hawk helicopters can also be used to support civilian emergencies – in fighting wildfires, search and rescue missions, and emergency medical transport.