Armed Forces of Croatia

"Croatian Armed Forces" redirects here. For other uses, see Croatian Armed Forces (disambiguation).

Armed Forces of Croatia
Oružane Snage Republike Hrvatske
Croatian Armed Forces emblem
Founded	1991
Service branches	Croatian Army Croatian Navy Croatian Air Force
Website	www.morh.hr/en/
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	Zoran Milanović
Ministry of Defence	Ivan Anušić
Chief of the General Staff	Tihomir Kundid
Personnel
Military age	18 years of age
Conscription	No
Active personnel	14,100 (2023.)
Reserve personnel	17,580
Deployed personnel	Iraq - 31 Hungary - 192 Poland – 145 Kosovo – 483 India / Pakistan – 17 Western Sahara – 10
Expenditure
Budget	€1.506 billion ($1,624 billion)
Percent of GDP	1.81% (2024)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	Đuro Đaković (armored vehicles) Brodosplit (naval vessels) HS Produkt (small arms)
Foreign suppliers	France Germany Finland Israel United States
Related articles
History	Military history of Croatia Croatian War of Independence War in Bosnia and Herzegovina List of Croatian soldiers Orders, decorations, and medals of Croatia
Ranks	Croatian military ranks

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Oružane snage Republike Hrvatske – OSRH) are the military forces organized for the defense of the Republic of Croatia and its allies by military means and for other forms of use and use in accordance with the domestic and international law. The Croatian Armed Forces protect the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Croatia and defend its territorial integrity.

In accordance with the requirements set for the Croatian Armed Forces in national defence and the fulfilment of obligations arising from NATO membership, the missions and tasks of the Croatian Armed Forces have been defined. The Croatian Armed Forces have three basic missions and those being: Defence of the Republic of Croatia and its allies, contribution to the international security and supporting civil institutions.

The President is the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief and exercises administrative powers in times of war by giving orders to the Chief of Staff, while administration and defence policy execution in peacetime is carried out by the Government through the Ministry of Defence. This unified institution consists of land, sea, and air branches referred to as:

• Croatian Army (Hrvatska Kopnena Vojska - HKoV)
• Croatian Navy (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica - HRM)
• Croatian Air Force (Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo - HRZ)

In 2023, Armed Forces had 15,900 members, of which 14,103 were active military personnel and 1,806 civil servants. Total available male manpower aged 16–49 numbers 1,035,712, of which 771,323 are technically fit for military service. Conscription is to be introduced once again from January 2025.

The Army has 650 AFVs, around 150 pieces of Artillery, 105 MLRSs, 75 Tanks, and 25 SPGs. The Air Force has 7 Dassault Rafale F3-R fighter jets, 4 UH-60 helicopters, 10 Mi-171 combat-transport helicopters and 16 OH-58 attack helicopters. The Navy has 30 ships, out of which five 60-80 metre fast attack craft are used in offensive capabilities. In April 2024 Croatia acquired first 6 out of 12 used French Rafale F-3R.

History

Formation in the early 1990s

In the late spring of 1991, the first military units of the National Guard Corps were formed, established on April 20, 1991. by the decision of the President of the Republic and which, for legal and political reasons, was formally part of the Ministry of the Interior. In addition to the structures and units that were created by state policy, there were also party armies or their loose affiliations. The Croatian Party of Rights organized its armed detachments, the Croatian Defence Forces (HOS), which were privately armed, relatively well trained and trained at the tactical level, and deployed to critical positions on the battlefields. The Party of Democratic Change (Reformed Communists, SDP) armed its activists in Istria, the Littoral and Dalmatia, as did the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in other parts of Croatia. In some places, however, the TO system was reactivated (e.g. in Zagreb), which gave better results.

The system of command and control was initially critically confused, and the competencies were vague and unclear. The ZNG is thus under the dual jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense. A large part of the command in the field was transferred to local crisis staffs composed and led by political officials who did not necessarily have military knowledge broader than those they had acquired during their conscription service in the JNA. There were often several different units in the field, which, even if they were nominally in the same organization, often did not have a common higher command.

The main tasks of the ZNG (later HV) were to prevent the penetration of the JNA and other forces in the most important directions, to defend cities and critical areas, and to conquer JNA barracks in the depth of their own deployment. These tasks began to be fulfilled more comprehensively and systematically only after the armed forces were organized into a single Croatian Army (HV) on the basis of the new Defence Law, and when the General Staff was established on 21 September 1991, with Chief General Anton Tus as its Chief. At that time, a more systematic mobilization of reserve soldiers and the organization of units, commands and institutions began, as well as the planned use of forces.

On October 1, 1991, large military-territorial and combat commands (Operational Zones) were formed with headquarters in Osijek, Bjelovar, Zagreb, Karlovac, Rijeka and Split. Subordinate to them were operational groups that commanded certain directions and areas. The basic and at the same time the highest tactical units were infantry brigades (professional and reserve), and brigades and battalions of other branches were also formed. By the end of the year, 63 brigades had been formed and developed.

Croatian War of Independence

During the Homeland War, the armed forces gradually grew to about 300,000 members. Most of the units were filled from the reserve, i.e. from the personnel who acquired basic military knowledge during their compulsory military service in the Yugoslav People's Army. Thanks to the growing military experience, the quality of these units grew, and the organization of the entire system improved over time.

The training of new generations of 18-year-old young men who served in the Croatian Army continued, whereby army units during military service were generally not used for combat tasks (young men would mostly receive call-ups for combat units soon after completing their compulsory military service).

As the war progressed, through clandestine operations (the legal procurement of military equipment for the war-torn territory of the former Yugoslavia was prevented), significant amounts of military surpluses created after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact were purchased; in particular, the procurement of combat aircraft of Soviet origin was significant for the formation of the Croatian Air Force. The Croatian Air Force had included about twenty Mig 21 aircraft and several Mil Mi-24 combat helicopters, as well as several transport helicopters. Also, the domestic industry has become capable of significant independent production of weapons and military equipment.

The Croatian Navy was created to a large extent thanks to the successful action of capturing about one quarter of the Yugoslav Navy vessels in Šibenik in 1991. RBS-15 anti-ship missiles were also captured: this system made in Sweden has not yet been put into operation by the Yugoslav Navy, and the Croatian Navy succeeded in doing so after Croatian experts independently developed the "Phobos" fire control system; Namely, the Swedish manufacturer was not allowed to deliver that key part of the weapon system. With the introduction of modern missiles with a range of over 70 km into operational use, the Croatian Navy has largely prevented serious action by the enemy navy.

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia were in a wartime structure until March 12, 1996, when they switched to peacetime by the decision of the President of the Republic of Croatia.

Reforms

Honor Guard Battalion at the Bastille Day 2013 military parade.

With the stabilization of the situation after the end of the war, several important waves of reforms followed. There was an increasingly visible trend of other transition countries, as well as NATO members, to put emphasis in the development of the armed forces on mobility, on multifunctionality and flexibility in the use of the armed forces, and not on the mass composition and heavy equipment. Economic over-demanding and conceptual inadequacy, i.e. the inapplicability of the old Cold War conception became obvious. New security threats and a new international constellation called for deeper changes in the way armed forces were designed.  The process of reforming the defense system began in 2002. The aim of the reform and reorganization is to establish a modern structure of the defence system that will be able to respond to the challenges of the new era, taking into account the membership of the Republic of Croatia in NATO and security arrangements within the European Union.  The main guidelines for the reform are set by strategic documents adopted by the Republic of Croatia: the National Security Strategy of the Republic of Croatia, the Defence Strategy of the Republic of Croatia, the Military Strategy of the Republic of Croatia. During 2003, the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff began working on the Strategic Defence Review (SPO), which was adopted in 2005.  With the adoption of the Long-Term Development Plan of the Croatian Armed Forces 2006 – 2015 (DPR) in the Croatian Parliament on 7 July 2006, clear content and time frames for further reform, development and modernization of the Croatian Armed Forces in the next ten years were set.

The essence of the changes consists in the gradual transition from Croatian individual (national) to collective defence and security mechanisms, and this also implies:

• transition to the professionalization of the Croatian Armed Forces, which means replenishment of soldiers voluntarily, and not through conscription (it also implies significant changes in the method of replenishment of the reserve, because the system of voluntary/contractual reserve will no longer be able to be replenished by conscript soldiers after the completion of conscript service);
• the transition to a collective defence system means a smaller active and reserve composition, but better trained, equipped, compatible and interoperable with allies.
• the possibility that smaller nations that are members of the Alliance, such as Croatia, can partially "specialize" in order to be able to contribute to joint operations in a specific way with their limited capacities.
• even greater overall engagement of units and members of the Croatian Armed Forces in collective activities, international missions, preventive security activities, etc.

In 2007, the Decision was made not to call up recruits for military service which represented an important step towards the professionalization of the Croatian Armed Forces, which implies the abolition of compulsory military service and the introduction of voluntary military service. The first generation of volunteer conscripts began serving in November 2008.

After the Long-Term Development Plan of the Croatian Armed Forces for the period 2015-2024 envisaged a frugal development of the armed forces, the complication of the security situation in Europe regarding Russia which culminated in the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 the political will to decisively strengthen the Croatian Armed Forces was formed in Croatia, and the military budget was significantly increased.

Defence expenditure

See also: List of countries in Europe by military expenditures

The trajectory of Croatian military budget and spending was constantly below 2% of GDP, a major difference from the 1990s when defence expenditure represented a major stake in Croatian budgetary expenditure due to then ongoing Croatian War of Independence. For example, in 1995 the Croatian defence budget stood at 12.4 billion Croatian Kuna or around 10% of GDP, which was also represented at the time highest defence expenditure rate. In late 2019, the Croatian Government issued a revised defence expenditure strategy which will see the country increase its defence expenditure to gradually meet the 2% NATO target, with 2019 and 2020 defence budgets seeing immediate revisions and increases to meet the new spending plan. However, if defence pensions are included in Croatia's defence expenditure, then Croatia already meets the 2% target recommended by the NATO. Some €1140 million was paid in defence pensions to some 97000 individuals in Croatia.

Defence expenditures in recent years;

Year	Amount (in USD)	% of GDP	Change in %
2014	1.064 bil.	1.78
2015	883 mil.	1.73	1.03
2016	837 mil.	1.58	5.96
2017	926 mil.	1.64	6.15
2018	966 mil.	1.56	2.81
2019	1,001 bil.	1.61	7.19
2020	983 mil.	1.69	3.02
2021	1,361 bil.	1.95	30.82
2022	1,285 bil.	1.78	2.40
2023	1,441 bil.	1.74	0.73
2024	1,624 bil.	1.81	7.11

With the publishment of the new budget for the year 2025., defence expenditure will reach 2% mark as per the obligations to the NATO. Furthermore, in regard to the modernization of the equipment of the Armed Forces, it is planned that 29% of the total amount will be spent on acquiring new NATO standard equipment, well above 20% that NATO charter obliges its member state to spend.

Structure

Structure of the Croatian Armed Forces 2016 (click to enlarge)

The Armed Forces are divided into branches, services, professions and their specialties. The branches of the Armed Forces are the Croatian Army, the Croatian Navy and the Croatian Air Force.

Branches of the Armed Forces are parts of the Armed Forces within which the preparation and equipping of individuals, units and purpose-built forces are carried out for the execution of tasks in certain geographical areas (land, sea, air) whose primary task is to maintain the required level of combat readiness of operational units.

The armed forces have a peacetime and a wartime composition. The peacetime composition of the Armed Forces consists of active military personnel, civil servants and employees assigned to the Armed Forces, reservists called up for training, contract reservists, cadets and persons who have received voluntary military training. Exceptionally, the peacetime composition of the Armed Forces also consists of conscripts when compulsory military service is in force. The wartime composition of the Armed Forces, in addition to military personnel, civil servants, employees and conscripts (when compulsory military service is in force), also consists of conscripts mobilized into the Armed Forces.

The current structure of the Croatian Armed Forces has been in force since 1 December 2014 and includes the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, Military Representations, Headquarters Units, three branches: the Croatian Army, the Croatian Navy and the Croatian Air Force, as well as the Croatian Defence Academy "Dr. Franjo Tuđman", the Support Command and the Special Forces Command.

• General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces is the general staff of the Armed forces of Republic of Croatia, a joint body organized within the Ministry of Defence which is responsible for the command, preparation and use of the Armed Forces. General Staff commands the entire Armed Forces in accordance with the dictates of the Commander-in-Chief (President of Croatia) and the Minister of Defense and performs other professional activities for the Commander-in-Chief and the Minister of Defense. It also has a number of units under its direct command, including the CROSOFCOM, Honour Guard Battalion and several others.
• Croatian Defence Academy "Dr. Franjo Tuđman" (HVU) is a higher educational military institution of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia. It is responsible for the training of individuals for the needs of the entire Croatian Armed Forces. It is located in the "Petar Zrinski" barracks in the Zagreb district of Črnomerec.
• The Support Command (ZzP) is the most important part of the logistics system of the Croatian Armed Forces and is responsible for the implementation of logistical, medical and part of personnel support for the Croatian Armed Forces. It's responsible for the acquisition and preparation of all State resources allocated to the Armed Forces and for the overall plan of their use and its applicability to operations on the battlefield.
• Croatian Special Forces Command (CROSOFCOM) is one of the three independent commands of the Croatian Armed Forces, subordinate directly to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia. CROSOFCOM mission is to ensure the combat readiness of the special operations forces for operations in defense of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Croatia and to participate in NATO and coalition-led operations.
• Military representations (VP) represent the Armed Forces and carry out their duties, professional tasks related to participation in the work and monitoring the work of departments, working groups, permanent and temporary bodies at the North Atlantic Alliance, European Union and at the Allied Command Operations and the Allied Command Transformation.
• Support units (PP) are established for the purpose of developing capabilities for the implementation of various tasks and support activities, which other compositions, due to the specificity or scope, cannot be provided by the Armed Forces within the organic composition. Those units are: Presidential Guard Battalion, Military Police Regiment (PVP), Intelligence Operations Center (SOD), Center for Communication and Information Systems (SKIS), Personnel Management Center (HRC), Home of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (DGSOS)

Command and control

President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović during welcoming ceremony.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces is the President of the Republic of Croatia.  Command of the Armed Forces in peacetime shall be exercised by the Commander-in-Chief through the Minister of Defence, who shall be responsible to the Commander-in-Chief for the implementation of the order and shall report to him on the implementation. In a state of imminent threat and a state of war, the Commander-in-Chief directly issues orders to the Chief of the General Staff and at the same time informs the Minister of Defence of the issued orders. In this case, the Chief of the General Staff shall be responsible to the Commander-in-Chief for the implementation of the order. If the Minister of Defence fails to carry out the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, the Commander-in-Chief may exercise command of the Armed Forces directly through the Chief of the General Staff.

Command and direction in the Armed Forces shall be carried out by officers and non-commissioned officers appointed and assigned to command duties in the Armed Forces. Command is based on the principles of single-leadership and subordination. Members of the Armed Forces shall be accountable to their superiors for their work, command and management.

For the purpose of establishing a unified system of command and control over all parts of units in the country and abroad, a new organizational unit was established at the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces: the Command Operations Center (ZOS).  A unique operational picture is created in the Command Operations Center and enables the conduct of all activities and operations of the Croatian Armed Forces units in the period of up to 96 hours, including the engagement of forces in the execution of tasks of surveillance of the air and sea space of the Republic of Croatia.

The Croatian Parliament exercises democratic control over the Armed Forces.

International cooperation

Soldiers of the 3. HRVCON-a in Lithuania at the Hill of Crosses

The Republic of Croatia began its first participation in the UN peacekeeping mission in 1999 by sending 10 members of the Croatian Armed Forces to the peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) as peace observers. In addition to UN peacekeeping missions, in February 2003, with the participation of Military Police platoons in NATO's ISAF mission in Afghanistan, Croatia also began its engagement in NATO missions. Since October 2008, for the first time, a reconnaissance team (15 members) has been deployed to the EU peacekeeping mission (EUFOR) in Chad and the Central African Republic for 6 months.

Members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia have been participating in the UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) operation since July 2007 as staff officers, and since 2013 as liaison officers. In May 2019, the 2nd HRVCON returned from the operation, which consisted of 52 members of the Engineering Regiment of the Croatian Army. The commander of the contingent was Major Siniša Šlibar.

Security Council Resolution 690 of 29 April 1991 established the MINURSO Peace Support Mission with the aim of organizing and securing the conditions for a free and impartial referendum in Western Sahara and the publication of its results. Members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia have been participating in the MINURSO operation since December 2002 as military observers.

Croatian soldiers have been participating in the KFOR operation in Kosovo since July 2009. In 2009, when the first HRVCON was sent with 20 members and two Mi-171Sh transport helicopters. The basic task of HRVCON is the transport of KFOR forces, cargo and VIPs. The aircraft component of HRVCON is located at the Bondsteel base, Uroševac/Ferizai, and they are under the direct command of the KFOR Commander. In addition, the Croatian Armed Forces also participate with the staff of KFOR HQ and advisors in the NALT team, who are located in the "Film City" camp, KFOR HQ in Pristina. In accordance with the Decision of the Croatian Parliament, up to 40 members of the Croatian Armed Forces with two helicopters of the Croatian Air Force can be deployed to the KFOR peace support operation in Kosovo in 2019 and 2020, with the possibility of rotation. of the 2. Croatian Contingent on Hill of Crosses, Lithuania]] Croatia participates in NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence operation in Poland and Lithuania. The first Croatian contingent went to Poland in October 2017, the second in March 2018, and in October of the same year, the 3rd Croatian contingent (HRVCON eFPBG – USA) was deployed to the northeast of Poland to the military training ground "Bemowo Piskie" and took over the tasks of its predecessors. The 4th HRVCON is currently in Poland, headed by Commander Major Predrag Srđenović, which has 80 members. Croatian soldiers, together with members of the armed forces of Romania and Great Britain, are part of the Battle Group led by the United States of America, which is attached to the 15th Mechanized Brigade of the Republic of Poland. The backbone of the contingent consists of members of the Artillery and Missile Battalion of the Guards Mechanized Brigade with a battalion of self-propelled multiple rocket launchers Vulkan, staff working as part of the BGP Command, as well as the Military Police team and the national support element with associated weapons, equipment and vehicles. n November 2017, the 1st Croatian Contingent of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence went to Lithuania, where they participated in this NATO activity as part of the German-led Battle Group (1st HRVCON eFPBG-DEU). 181 members of the Croatian Armed Forces were sent for a period of seven months, and the majority of the forces were members of the mechanized company from the 1st Mechanized Battalion "Tigers" of the Guards Mechanized Brigade, including supporting logistic elements with associated weapons and equipment and 14 Patria armoured combat vehicles. The basic task and mission of the Croatian contingent was integration into the multinational battle group led by the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the implementation of training in that composition, which, in addition to members of the Croatian Armed Forces, also includes members of the armed forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the French Republic and the host country of the Republic of Lithuania.

At the Warsaw Summit in July 2016, NATO announced the transformation of the Active Endeavour mission in the Mediterranean Sea into a broader maritime security operation. The new operation was named Sea Guardian. In September 2018, the Croatian Navy ship RTOP-41 Vukovar with a crew of 33 participated in the Sea Guardian peace support operation in the Mediterranean. The commander of the ship was Lieutenant Battalion Ante Uljević, and the commander of the 1st HRVCON was the captain of the corvette Nikola Bašić. It was the first time that a Croatian Navy ship participated in the NATO-led Operation Sea Guardian, where it carried out non-combat tasks with a focus on creating a comprehensive maritime situational picture, with the aim of deterring possible threats and ensuring common safety at sea.

Current Mission	Organization	Location	Number of personnel
European Union Naval Force Mediterranean – Operation Irini	European Union	Mediterranean Sea	1
European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation Atalanta	European Union	Somalia	1
European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo – EULEX	European Union	Kosovo	N/A
Kosovo Force – KFOR	NATO	Kosovo	142
NATO Enhanced Forward Presence – Battle Group Poland	NATO	Poland	80
NATO Enhanced Forward Presence – Battle Group Lithuania	NATO	Lithuania	188
NATO mission in Iraq	NATO	Iraq	1-10
Operation Inherent Resolve	U.S Armed Forces	Kuwait	1
Operation Sea Guardian	NATO	Mediterranean Sea	32
United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan – UNMOGIP	United Nations	India and Pakistan	9
United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara – MINURSO	United Nations	Western Sahara	6

Former Mission	Organization	Location
European Union mission in Chad – EUFOR Tchad/RCA	European Union	Chad
European Union Naval Force Mediterranean – Operation Sophia	European Union	Mediterranean Sea
International Security Assistance Force – ISAF	NATO	Afghanistan
Operation Active Endeavour	NATO	Mediterranean Sea
Operation Triton	European Union	Mediterranean Sea
Resolute Support Mission – RS	NATO	Afghanistan
United Nations Disengagement Observer Force – UNDOF	United Nations	Golan Heights - Syria and Israel
United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea – UNMEE	United Nations	Ethiopia and Eritrea
United Nations Mission in Liberia – UNMIL	United Nations	Liberia
United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone – UNAMSIL	United Nations	Sierra Leone
United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor – UNMISET	United Nations	East Timor
United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia – UNOMIG	United Nations	Georgia
United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire – UNOCI	United Nations	Ivory Coast
United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus – UNFICYP	United Nations	Cyprus
United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti – MINUSTAH	United Nations	Haiti