were typically dominated by scepticism. During 1990, Flight International wrote of Yugoslavia's partnership efforts: "For this to become a realistic hope, let alone a possibility, will require political change beyond anything already seen in Eastern Europe. Western companies wanting to work with Jugoslavia on Novi Avion had been warned by their governments to exercise care lest technology end up in the wrong hands". During 1991, Yugoslavia disintegrated into several nations, which quickly resulted in the Avion programme being abandoned due to the financial resources necessary to start production of the fighter having become unavailable following the break-up of the country. Reportedly, work had been initially halted due to the lack of funding while further efforts were made to acquire foreign partnership arrangements. Following the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars, resulting in the complete collapse of the nation, any revival of the project henceforth became highly unlikely. At the time of the Avion's cancellation, the design was approximately one year away from completion; at this point, several production facilities and prototypes of some elements of the aircraft such as its cockpit, had already been constructed. If the fighter had not been cancelled, it was scheduled to have made its maiden flight during 1992; the Avion was reportedly expected to enter squadron service during the mid 2000s. Design The Novi Avion was a fourth generation multi-role combat aircraft. In terms of its basic layout, it featured a cropped delta-canard configuration. Externally, the Avion resembled the French-built Dassault Rafale, although it differed by being both smaller and only powered by a single engine. It was designed to fill a variety of different roles, including air superiority, interception, reconnaissance, ground attack, and anti-shipping operations. According to statements by senior Yugoslavian Air Force officials, the design involved the extensive use of composite materials, which were to comprise a large proportion of the structure. It was to be furnished with various advanced systems, such as integrated navigation/attack systems and a multi-purpose radar system. The Avion was to incorporate a number of features that were intended to lower its radar cross-section (RCS), although this would not have been to the extent of being a true stealth aircraft. It was intended to be equipped with an advanced Electronic countermeasures (ECM)/Electronic counter-counter-measures (ECCM) suite, which was to be domestically developed in Yugoslavia. The cockpit was also relatively advanced for the time, integration features such as a speaker recognition capability.