was expected to place further orders for the MiG-29 during the 1990s, which were reportedly intended to bolster the remaining MiG-21 fleet until the Avion could be inducted into squadron service. Both France and French company Dassault Aviation's upcoming Rafale fighter bore a heavy influence on the design of the Avion. The Novi Avion was to be Yugoslavia's first supersonic aircraft, accordingly, the national industry lacked experience in the design and testing of such fighters and sought out external partners to provide assistance. During the late 1980s, a preliminary design study, heavily influenced by the Rafale, had been submitted by Dassault. The Avion shared several areas of commonality with the Rafale, such as an almost-identical delta-canard configuration and a similar engine intake arrangement. It has been claimed that the addition of strakes extending aft from the trailing edge of the wing was to account for the single engine arrangement adopted for the type. According to aerospace publication Flight International, the majority of design differences between the Rafale and the Avion were due to the smaller size of the latter, especially in terms of its tail section. Search for partners and termination By March 1990, the selection of an engine to power the Avion was reportedly imminent. It was claimed that engine proposals had been received from several major international manufacturers, including General Electric's F404, Rolls-Royce's RB199, Pratt & Whitney's PW1120 and Snecma's M88 turbofan military-grade engines, which were reportedly amongst options under study by Yugoslavia. Potential engine arrangements may have included a licensing arrangement to produce the selected engine in Yugoslavia. During the 1990s, the development costs related to the fighter had been reportedly anticipated to be between $US150 million and $US200 million per year throughout the remainder of the decade. At one stage, Yugoslavia expected to construct approximately 150 of these planes to replace both its MiG-21 and Soko J-21 Jastreb fleets, while export sales of several hundred Novi Avions on the world market had also been anticipated by the country. By early 1990, the government of Yugoslavia had conducted several discussions with various countries, aiming to open up negotiations to jointly develop the fledgling fighter aircraft. While the nation had already announced that, in principle, it would proceed with production of the Avion, it sought outside partners to share the aircraft's considerable development cost. However, these aspirations for extensive multinational collaboration were often complicated by political factors, which