[5] It was developed in 1989 to replace the M57 in the Yugoslav military and police.

The CZ99 should not be confused with the Czech firearm manufacturer Česká Zbrojovka, because the CZ in the CZ99's name stands for "Crvena Zastava".

The CZ99 replaced the outdated Zastava M57 in Yugoslavian military service because of its many new features, such as a fully chromed barrel, tritium night sights, an indicator for the last three rounds remaining in the magazine and a loaded chamber indicator.

Visually, the pistol resembles a SIG-Sauer P226 and, as such, it is often compared to the SIG.

The P226 (at the time of this pistol's design) had a stamped and welded sheet steel slide.