The Barracks “Hrvatski branitelji Istre” in Pula, opened in November 2019, houses the Unmanned Aerial Systems Centre, which is a unit of the Intelligence Regiment (OP) of the General Staff of the CAF. The Centre was established through transformation of the Intelligence Division into the Intelligence Regiment.  It was realised in the last phase of the Croatian Government’s project of the return of the Croatian Armed Forces’ return to their previous locations in towns throughout Croatia. The Intelligence Regiment’s personnel provided significant contribution to the Support Command and the Croatian Army with the furnishing of the accommodation facilities intended for the UAV Centre members.

Discrete but present wherever necessary, the members of the UAV Centre have co-worked with the Croatian Navy, the Croatian Air Force and the Croatian Army, and have been particularly active with using their capabilities for the benefit of the community.

The Commander of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Centre Major Zvonimir Mravunac said that the Centre comprises several unmanned aerial systems and trained operators. In addition to the Orbiter system, the Skylark 1 reconnaissance minibus aircraft and the Bojnik and VX II training drones, used for training and practice purposes. Among the tasks assigned to the Centre the Commander underlines those contributing to inter-department co-operation. “Through the collection of data and information on unmanned aerial systems and their distribution to the end user we are able to perform a wide range of military tasks and tasks in the domain of homeland security systems. We co-work with the Ministry of Agriculture with respect to the supervision of marine fisheries and of the Exclusive Economic Zone, migration and communications, we are able to intervene in cases of natural disasters, floods, environmental incidents – wherever it is necessary to estimate the situation quickly and accurately across a wider area”, said Major Mravunac .

Trained to respond quickly and act in crisis situations, the Centre staff used the UAVs to conduct aerial shooting of the epicentre area in the wake of the strong earthquake hitting Zagreb in March 2020, and have also been an indispensable part of the firefighter forces.

The Commander of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Centre Major Zvonimir Mravunac said that the Centre comprises several unmanned aerial systems and trained operators. In addition to the Orbiter system, the Centre also comprises the Skylark UAV and training UAVs “Bojnik” and VX II, used for training and practice purposes. Among the tasks assigned to the Centre the Commander underlines the ones contributing to inter-department co-operation. “By collecting data and information on unmanned aerial systems and their distribution to the end user, we are able to perform a wide range of military tasks and those in the field of homeland security systems. We cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture in the supervision of marine fisheries and of the Exclusive Economic Zone, migration and communications, we are able to intervene in cases of natural disasters, floods, environmental incidents – wherever it is necessary to quickly and accurately assess the situation in detail in the wider area, “said Major Mravunac .

“We support civilian institutions during the firefighter seasons and with the coordination. Our UAVs can monitor critical spots likely to be caught in fires, but can also survey the areas devastated by fires and the smouldering pots which could transition to fire. In this way, unmanned systems can have an important life-saving role and reduce the burden on the flight crews of firefighter aircraft and minimise the overall cost of firefighting. Unmanned systems have a great potential, they certainly belong to future” said the Commander of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Centre.

Major Zvonimir Mravunac was born in Vukovar in 1977. Spending his exile from the occupied town in Rovinj he chose the career of a military pilot as early as in junior years in the elementary school.  His road from ambition to realisation of led through the graduation from the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Grammar School in Rovinj and the Faculty of Transportation (the Aeronautics study programme) Major Mravunac became a pilot in 2002 and in 2004 was assigned to the Fighter Aircraft Squadron in Pula, and in 2011 to the 93^rd Air Base at Zemunik as flight instructor.  From 2015 – 2019 he was a member of the aerobatic group “Wings of Storm” and in November 2019 was appointed commander of the UAV Centre within the OP.

The foundations of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Centre of the Infantry Regiment in Pula date from the year 1993, and the establishment of the 280^th UAV Platoon of the General Staff of the Croatian Army (in Zagreb, on 11 March). They began operating with a squad stationed in Slavonski Brod, which efficiently exercised tasks even with the limited technical resources amid the war situation. In mid-1994 operational squads were activated in Zagreb and in Sinj, as well as the Acquisition, Processing and Interpreting Squad in Zagreb, whereby the system was upgraded at the operational level, and continued developing.  The intelligence collected through the operation of the 280^th Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Platoon of the General Staff of the Croatian Army were highly useful in the preparation of the Military and Police Operation “Lightning” and in the Military and Police Operation “Storm”, and later also in the detection of mass graves for the purpose of exhumations.