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This page is about the military of the modern Republic of Croatia. For other uses, see Croatian Armed Forces (disambiguation).

Armed forces of the Republic of Croatia Oružane snage Republike Hrvatske
Croatian Armed Forces emblem
Service branches	Croatian Army Croatian Navy Croatian Air Force and Defense
Leadership
Commander-in-Chief	President Stjepan Mesić
Defence Minister	Branko Vukelić
Chief of staff	General Josip Lucić
Manpower
Military age	18 years of age (voluntary)
Conscription	Abolished in 2008
Available for military service	1,035,712 (2008 est.), age 15–49
Fit for military service	771,323 (2008 est.), age 15–49
Reaching military age annually	27,500 (2008 est.)
Active personnel	20,000 (ranked 100th)
Reserve personnel	12,000
Deployed personnel	Afghanistan - 293  Kosovo - 20  Chad - 15  Syria - 95  Pakistan - 7
Expenditures
Budget	$1.008 billion
Percent of GDP	1.85% (2009)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	Đuro Đaković (armored vehicles) HS Produkt (small arms)
Foreign suppliers	Sweden  Switzerland  Italy  Finland  United States  Canada  Norway  Israel  Germany
Related articles
History	Ban Josip Jelačić Nikola Šubić Zrinski Croatian War of Independence Croatian National Guard Croatian Defence Forces War in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ranks	Croatian military ranks

Croatian military is officially called Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Oružane snage Republike Hrvatske - OSRH) and it consists of these branches:

• Croatian Army (Hrvatska kopnena vojska)
• Croatian Navy (Hrvatska ratna mornarica)
• Croatian Air Force and Defense (Hrvatsko ratno zrakoplovstvo i protuzračna obrana)

Total active duty members of the armed forces (professional army) number is 20000.

Reserves number 12,000 of which 6,000 are on high alert. Available males aged 16–49 number 1,035,712, of which 771,323 are technically fit for military service.

Male citizens are no longer subject to compulsory military service starting January 1, 2008. However, the last generation of 2007 servicemen was also spared of compulsory service by an act from then Minister of Defense Berislav Rončević. ^[1]

[edit] Budget

The Croatian military budget for the past 4–5 years was kept below 2% of GDP; the same can't be said for 90's when defense expenditure represented major stake in Croatian Budgetary expenditure. For example, 1995 Croatian defense budget stood at 12.4 billion Croatian Kuna or just over 12% of GDP, which was also the highest defense expenditure ever.

Defense Expenditures in recent years (example years - source Croatian MOD);

• 2006: 4.20 billion Croatian Kuna - 1.67% of GDP
• 2007: 4.63 billion Croatian Kuna - 1.69% of GDP
• 2008: 5.39 billion Croatian Kuna - 1.83% of GDP
• 2009: 5.69 billion Croatian Kuna - 1.85% of GDP

*(Defense expenditure does not include extra budgetary funds, liabilities, loans or major procurement programs which are financed directly from the national central budget - Ministry of finance; example procurement of Patria AMV, new Canadairs or new warships).

In 2008 Croatia agreed or is in process of agreeing large defense procurement packages, 10+2 multi-role fighters, 4 corvettes, 10 smaller 40m gunboats/patrol boats from the local shipbuilder, new assault rifles, new uniforms, additional Iveco LMV multi role vehicles and additional procurement programs. In all Croatia plans to agree in excess of 1.5 billion Euros of new armaments in 2008 alone.

The increase in spending is being attributed to the fact that Croatia has introduced an all professional army and also because Croatia is a member of NATO. Primary goals are to replace obsolete Yugoslav/Soviet era weapons which are no longer compatible with the new defence doctrine.

* Estimated GDP for 2008 at the moment stands at 342.5 billion Kuna based on early Budgetary draft. Source, Croatian Ministry of Finance and Croatian National Bank's Quarterly Bulletin

[edit] Defense Reforms

Structure of the Croatian Armed Forces 2009 (click to enlarge)

Croatian MiG-21bis

The M-95 Degman, Croatia's main battle tank

The Croatian Government has implemented series of defense reforms with several important goals. These goals are meant to reduce the number of personnel serving in the military. By 2010, the Croatian military will have 24,300 military personnel and 2,000 civilian personnel.

• Plans to reduce the number of servicemen and non-combat personnel;
  • Plans to cut the army from its current number of 16,000 personnel to 12,500 personnel.
  • Plans to cut the number of Air Force personnel to 2,000 from the current number of 2,700.
  • Plans to cut the number of Naval personnel to around 1,800. (implemented)
  • Reserve status personnel to be cut from 32,000 to 12,000 by 2010.
  • Introduction of professional and voluntary service. (implemented)

Force 2010:

• Croatian Army: 10,300 + 2000 volunteers, total of 12,300
• Croatian Navy: 2,000
• Croatian Air Force: 2,000
• Support/Logistics/Special Forces and HQ: 2,000
• Total active military personnel: 16,300
• Civilians: 2,000
• Reserves: 12,000
• Total Armed Forces: 32,300

AN/FPS 117 in 2007

[edit] Commander

Croatian President Mr Stipe Mesic

The Commander-in-Chief of all Croatian armed forces in peace and war is the President of the Republic. The Commander-in-Chief prescribes the organization of the Croatian Armed Forces at the proposal of the Chief of General Staff, with consent of the Minister of Defence.

The Armed Forces consist of peacetime and wartime component. The peacetime component is composed of active military officers, civil servants and employees in the Croatian Armed Forces, cadets, and conscripts serving a 6-month national service and reservists when on military exercise. The wartime component of the Armed Forces is additionally composed of all other reservists.

The General Staff is part of the Ministry of Defense in charge of commanding, training and use of the Armed Forces. It also has a number of units under its direct command, including the Special Operations Battalion, Honor Guard Battalion and several others.

In peace, the Commander-in-Chief exercises his command through the Minister of Defense. In war and in cases where the Minister of Defense is not fulfilling orders, the Commander-in-Chief exercises his command directly through the General Staff Commander.

The Croatian Parliament exercises democratic control over the Armed Forces by adopting defense strategy, defense budget and defense laws.

[edit] Special Forces and Honor Guard Command

Special Operations Battalion (Croatian: Bojna za specijalna djelovanja) was founded on September 8, 2000 with merging of the Special Combat Skills Center and some personnel from the 1st Croatian Guard Brigade (1. Hrvatski Gardijski Zdrug). The Battalion has 300 men. Today, it is one of the most elite units of the Croatian military, as well as being one of the best trained and equipped special forces units in the region. ^[2]

The Croatian General Staff exercises direct command over the battalion which thus elevated the unit to strategic level for quicker reaction and overall better and faster tactical and strategic situations. Also, this means that members of all three branches of the Croatian armed forces can apply for selection.

This is special forces unit and therefore little is known about the units operations, but currently 2 squads (16-20 men) of Special Forces are deployed with the ISAF in Afghanistan.

There are two additional units which fall under special forces command, 350th Military Intelligence Battalion (about 200-250 men) and Honor Guard with 300 men located in garrison in Pantovčak, Zagreb.

Units that form part of Special forces Command:

• Special Operations Battalion (SOB) or Bojna za Specijalna Djelovanja (BSD) (300 men)
• 350. Military Intelligence Battalion or 350. Vojno-obavještajna bojna (200-250 men)
• Počasno zaštitna bojna or Honor Guard (300 men) ^[2]

[edit] Projects

Government plans to substantially modernize the Armed Forces at a cost of 4.0 billion USD (2007-2015). The modernization calls for a complete revamp of the armed forces so that it can face all the challenges of the 21st century.

Proposed Defence Programs and updates/upgrades:

[edit] Army

• Procurement of 126 Patria AMV 8x8 Modular APC/IFV - 850 million Kuna (additional 120-150 vehicles might be ordered after 2012)

• Procurement of 94 Iveco LMV (Light Multi role Vehicles) at cost of 220 million Kuna. The army might purchase additional LMVs once more funds become available. Around 250-300 LMVs are needed.

• Procurement of Advanced Artillery systems, up to 18x 155 mm Self Propelled Howitzers are to be purchased before 2015 to replace obsolete 2S1 self-propelled howitzers, however the program is on the back burner as there are more important defense programs; procurement of new howitzers might need to be postponed for a few years. Swedish Bofors ARCHER Artillery System and German PzH 2000 are most likely candidates for this program. Cost of program - 1.2 billion Kuna.

• Procurement of 550 5-ton army trucks, 200 7.5-ton military trucks and 300 4WD vehicles - program is in a full swing and first batch of MAN (150), Mercedes (30) and Iveco (50) military trucks was delivered. Croatian Army also ordered large numbers of new 4WD vehicles, Mercedes-Benz G-Class - 120, Land Rover Wolf - 60, Toyota Land Cruiser - 50, Nissan Navara - 50, got delivered in 2005-2007. Cost of program - 570-580 million Kuna.

• Modernization of M-84A and M-84A4 Snajper MBTs and upgrade to M-84D and M-95 Degman standard. Program calls for an upgrade and modernization of 75 existing tanks and procurement of additional 29 new tanks over next 4 years due to a plan which requires Croatia to operate at least 104 modern tanks before 2015. Cost of program - 850 million Kuna.

• Introduction of new 5.56 mm NATO standard VHS Assault rifle. Cost of program - 200 million kuna (20 000 rifles with day/night sights and grenade launchers)

• Scores of smaller programs, communication equipment, night vision capability, electronic sensors, NBC equipment, battlefield management systems and modernization of Artillery systems with new sights and electronic fire control systems.

[edit] Air Force

• Procurement of 10-12 Mi-171Sh transport helicopters and all associated spare parts and equipment. Helicopters are equipped up to a NATO standards with mostly western avionics. Cost of Program - 380 million Croatian Kuna, paid for in form of Russian debt to Croatia.

• Procurement of 5 Zlin 242L basic trainers. Cost of program - 10 million Croatian Kuna.

• Procurement of Advanced short to medium range NATO SAM systems and modernization of existing Russian-made Igla SAMs. Croatia needs 12 Short to medium range SAM batteries (Radar/command vehicles + 2 luncher vehicles). Cost of program - 700-850 million Croatian Kuna.

• Procurement of modern jet fighters, Croatia plans to modernize its air force with the introduction of 12 multirole fighters. In the competition are JAS 39 Gripen C/D, EF2000 Typhoon, Mirage F1 and F-16 C/D Block 52+. Program is under revision and might be postponed for a year or two as a result of ongoing global economic crisis and recent decision that CAF needs at least 16-18 fighters to effectively patrol Croatian airspace. As an interim solution, additional 6-7 MiG-21s stored back in 2003 might be modernized and reinstated into service in 2009. Cost of fighter procurement program - 5000 million Croatian Kuna.

• Modern Radar network. New modern Radar network was put in to use in 2007 - AN/FPS-117 Radar network consisting of 5 radar stations across Croatia. Cost of program - 1800 million Croatian Kuna, program was initiated in 1998 and paid for by Croatian MOD in 1999.

• Procurement of 2 additional Canadair CL-415 fire bombers and 5 Air Tractor AT-802 - cost of program - 450 million Croatian Kuna. It has to be noted that this procurement wasn't planned and money was acquired from a surplus in the national budget.

• Additional programs are also being considered, additional utility, ASW, SAR and Police helicopters as well as few medium transport aircraft for the needs of several peacekeeping operations.

Helsinki class fast attack craft RTOP-41 Vukovar

[edit] Navy

Navy plans are still being worked on but present plans call for a medium expansion of the naval force.

• 10 new patrol boats, locally built, 40 meters in length. Cost of program 500 million Croatian Kuna

• 4 new corvettes - 80-120 meters in length. Cost of program 3000 million Croatian Kuna

• Overhaul of existing 2 King class fast attack crafts, including new engines. Cost of program - 40 million Croatian Kuna

• Upgrading RBS-15 Missiles to latest standard. - Cost of program - 120 million Croatian Kuna

[edit] Programs under revision

• BVP M-80A - Program is at the standstill and might no longer receive any upgrades, Croatian MOD stated, that it will replace its M80's with the modern western IFV when funds become available. Most likely contender for this program is Patria AMV in IFV configuration.

[edit] International Cooperation

On April 1. 2009 Croatia has joined NATO and is also official candidate country to become 28th. member of European Union. The Croatian Armed Forces participate in many (military) aspects of both organizations as well as actively participate in many UN peacekeeping operations worldwide.

[edit] See also

Croatia portal

• Croatian Ministry of Defense
  • Croatian military ranks
    • Admiral flote
• Croatian War of Independence
  • Battle of the Barracks
    • Operation Storm
• NATO
• EU
• UN

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Military of Croatia

• Croatian Armed Forces Official website
• Croatian Forces International Volunteers Association official website
• [1] - Defense planning and procurement.
• [2] - long term planning and long term defense strategy

   Croatian Army   •      Croatian Navy   •     Croatian Air Force and Defense 

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