Upon its entry to service with the Yugoslav Air Force, which was anticipated to occur during the late 1990s to early 2000s, the Avion would have been used as a replacement for the nation's aging fleet of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s.

[2] In service, the aircraft was envisioned as fulfilling multiple mission roles, including air-defence, ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance, being designed to possess both high manoeuvrability and supersonic penetration speeds.

In addition, the Yugoslavian Air Force 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.

[2] 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.

[2] 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.

[citation needed] 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.

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".

[7] 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.

[9] 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.

[citation needed] 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.