Croatian Army

The Croatian Army (also Croatian Ground Army, Croatian: Hrvatska kopnena vojska, Hrvatska vojska) is a branch of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia.

The fundamental role and purpose of the Croatian Army is to protect vital national interests of the Republic of Croatia and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state.

Basic tasks of the Croatian Army are:

• to maintain an optimal level of combat readiness of the Armed Forces
• to fight a possible aggressor's main forces on strategic-operational levels and to defend against any land, air and amphibious assaults
• to prevent, in cooperation with the other branches of the Armed Forces, an aggressor from in-depth operations on Croatian territory
• to build and develop the capability to respond to requests of non-traditional tasks that are required of the Croatian Army (floods, fires, natural disasters...)
• to assist its allies and friendly countries in time of need.

History

The Croatian Army was formed in the Croatian War of Independence, when on November 3, 1991 the Croatian National Guard was renamed Croatian Army.

Numerous Croatian army units arose from the Croatian National Guard, including:

• 1st Guards Brigade (Croatia)
• 2nd Guards Brigade (Croatia)
• 3rd Guards Brigade (Croatia)
• 7th Guards Brigade (Croatia)
• Croatian 104th Brigade
• 204th Vukovar Brigade

Organizational structure and status

The Croatian Army is an all-volunteer force numbering 12,500 active personnel. The Army can also call on 6000 reserve personnel who serve up to 30 days every year.

The Croatian Army is being reorganized to fit in the NATO doctrine of a small, highly-capable force with an emphasis on mobility and versatility.

Major combatant commands of the Croatian Army are one mechanized and one motorized brigade, each brigade having a specific role and different responsibilities. In 2012 one motorized infantry company is to be detached and put under the command of the EU Battle Group led by Germany. Croatia continues to deploy 350 personnel in support of NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

Croatia achieved NATO membership in April 2009. The defence reforms which Croatia initiated in 2000 have a long term goal of replacing and modernizing the armed forces to meet the challenges of NATO membership. The plan calls for modernization of the Army and introduction of the training and doctrine which is in line with Western (NATO) standards. Replacing ex-Yugoslav/Soviet hardware is also one of the main priorities.

There are various ongoing initiatives such as upgrade of the tank fleet, replacement of obsolete anti aircraft systems, introduction of a new Armored Personnel Carrier and NATO standard assault rifle, etc. Procurement of new, NATO-compatible equipment takes a significant part of the defense budget. Croatia plans to spend up to 20 billion kuna (1U$ = 5.0 kuna) on new arms over the next 7 years, of this at least 40% will be spent on the Army. However, the global financial crisis has put pressure on Croatia's public finances and the defense budget will be hard pressed to meet the modernization objectives as planned.

Croatia only recently operated almost 280 main battle tanks but this number decreased significantly due to the withdrawal of almost 200 obsolete T-55 tanks in 2006. Most units have been scrapped but a number was stored as operational reserve in case of need. The mainstay now is the aging M-84A4 main battle tank. However, modernization of the tank fleet is one of the priorities set in the new defense budget so that current M-84A4 tanks can be brought up to M-84D standard. The Croatian Army is also evaluating the M-95 Degman Main Battle Tank as one of the options.

In July, 2007 Patria AMV won the contract to supply the next generation of APCs to the Croatian Army. Only 84 vehicles were ordered at first but additional 42 were purchased in an extended contract signed in December 2008. Croatia thus has 126 units on order with first six vehicles manufactured in Finland delivered by late 2008. All remaining vehicles will be locally produced. According to some reports at least 50-60 additional APCs are needed. In 2010 an order was placed for an undisclosed number of M151 Protector remotely controlled weapons stations (RCWS).

In early 2007, Croatia bought 10 Iveco LMV light armoured vehicles at a cost of 330,000 Euros per unit. According to official documents, 94 of these vehicles are needed by 2012 and will be ordered shortly. However, Croatian contingent in Afghanistan continues to rely heavily on US-donated HMMWV and MRAP type vehicles.

Steps have been made to standardize the difficult to maintain vehicle inventory of the Croatian military which is full of various models of different origin, type and age. In 2005 the Army bought 152 light trucks and vehicles, 156 in 2006 with additional 170 obtained by the end of 2007. All vehicles are of prominent European or Japanese manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Iveco, MAN, Toyota and Nissan.

The Croatian Army plans to introduce a new assault rifle in 5.56mm NATO caliber to replace the AK-47 and its derivatives. The preferred model seems to be the locally manufactured VHS developed by HS Produkt. It was reported in the media that the MoD has purchased the initial batch of 1000 rifles in 2009-2010. Previous Defense Ministers Rončević and Vukelić both went on record stating the requirement for up to 20000 rifles. The MoD press and photo releases from regular training activities in 2011 indicate that the VHS has been issued to elements of the Military Intelligence Battalion, Combat Swimmer Detachment of the Special Forces Battalion, as well as to one of the infantry companies of the Guards Motorized Brigade that will be made available to the German-led EU Battle Group in 2012. There have been unconfirmed reports that the rifle is being tested in Afghanistan.

Current structure of Croatian Army

• Land Forces Command (based in Karlovac) ^[1]

• • Armored Guard Brigade (based in Vinkovci)
    • Headquarters & Headquarters Company
    • 1st Tank Battalion "Kune"
    • 2nd Tank Battalion
    • 3rd Mechanised Battalion "Sokolovi"
    • 4th Mechanised Battalion "Pume"
    • Artillery Battalion
    • Air Defence Battalion
    • Engineer Battalion
    • Reconnaissance Company
    • Signals Company
    • Logistics Company

• • Motorized Guard Brigade (based in Knin)
    • Headquarters & Headquarters Company
    • 1st Motorised Battalion "Vukovi"
    • 2nd Motorised Battalion "Pauci"
    • 3rd Mechanised Battalion "Tigrovi"
    • 4th Mechanised Battalion "Gromovi"
    • Artillery Battalion
    • Air Defence Battalion
    • Engineer Battalio
    • Reconnaissance Company
    • Signals Company
    • Logistics Company

• • Training and Doctrine Command
    • Infantry Regiment
    • Artillery Regiment
    • Air Defence Regiment
    • Engineer Regiment
    • Logistics Regiment
    • Basic Training Centre
    • Tactical Artillery Training Centre
    • Training and Operations Simulation Centre
    • Training Centre for International Military Operations
  • Military Police Regiment
  • Signals Regiment
  • Military Intelligence Battalion
  • NBC Defence Battalion

Army Modernization plans

Croatia plans to spend about 7.5 billion Kuna (1.5 billion USD) over the next 7 years equipping its ground army.

Main Programs

• Procurement of 126 Patria AMV Modular APC/IFV - 1.2 billion Kuna (additional vehicles might be ordered after 2012 once more funds become available). Original contract with Finnish Patria was revised due to economic crisis with no changes in number of vehicles.

• Procurement of 94 Iveco LMVs at a cost of 220 million Kuna. Additional 100-150 vehicles are being considered for the needs of the army.

• Procurement of Advanced Artillery systems, 24x 155 mm Self Propelled Howitzers are to be procured before 2015 to replace obsolete 2S1 self-propelled howitzers. Program is on the back burner as there are more important defense programs and procurement of new howitzers might need to be postponed for few years. Swedish ARCHER Artillery System and French CAESAR self-propelled howitzer are most likely candidates for this program. German PzH 2000 was labeled to be too heavy for Croatian terrain. 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 - 160(320), Land Rover Wolf - 30, Toyota Land Cruiser - 50, Nissan Navara - 50, delivered in 2005-2007. Cost of program - 570-580 million Kuna.

• Modernization of M-84A4 Snajper MBTs and their upgrade to M-84D standard. Program calls for an upgrade and modernization of 75 existing tanks and procurement of additional 29 new tanks over the 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 assault rifle. Cost of program - unknown. (20,000 rifles with day/night sights and grenade launchers are planned). Most likely choice is domestic VHS assault rifle, contract for acquisition of first 1,000 rifles was signed with HS Produkt.

• 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.

Other programs:

• Equipping motorized infantry battalion (800-1000 men) with night vision equipment, including advanced optoelectronics and sensors, ground radars, thermal imaging cameras – 120 million Croatian Kuna
• NBC equipment for biological/chemical-decontamination unit – 150 million Croatian Kuna
• Procurement of new army engineering vehicles, armored recovery vehicles, mine clearance vehicles and armored personal vehicles designed to withstand mine blasts – 320 million Croatian Kuna
• Procurement of modern communication and battlefield management systems – 50 million Croatian Kuna
• Procurement of new logistic and amphibious vehicles – 250 million Croatian Kuna
• Procurement of 3-4 Artillery Radars – 30-40 million Croatian Kuna
• Procurement of 8-12 Mobile air defense radars – 200-300 million Croatian Kuna
• Procurement of Army Field Hospital - 80-100 million Croatian Kuna
• Procurement of 16 Army Tank transporters, Heavy Equipment Transporters – 80-100 million Croatian Kuna
• Procurement of Bridge laying equipment – 100 million Croatian Kuna

Equipment

• Handguns

• Submachine guns

• Assault rifles

• Sniper rifles

• Grenade launchers

• Machine guns

• Main battle tanks

• Tracked vehicles

• Wheeled Armoured Personnel Vehicless

• Combat engineering vehicles

• Anti-tank weapons

• Anti-aircraft warfare

• Although Croatia acquired the S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile system in 1994 and demonstrated some of its parts on a military parade in 1995, it is believed that the system was never fully completed and operational although the training of crews was sought as late as 1998. Some sources claim that the weapon was subsequently handed-over to the USA or Israel in 2002-2004. However, officials still claim that the system is stored somewhere in Croatia.

• Artillery

• Logistics
• Army Jeeps, 4WD (550)
  • • Mercedes-Benz G-Class  Germany
    • Land Rover Wolf  United Kingdom
    • Toyota Land Cruiser  Japan
    • Nissan Navara  Japan

• Army Trucks 5-15t (1200)
  • • Mercedes-Benz  Germany
    • Iveco  Italy
    • MAN  Germany
    • TAM (will be retired within next 3–5 years)  Slovenia
    • FAP (will be retired within next 3–5 years)  Yugoslavia

• • Field Ambulance Trucks and 4WD vehicles (100)
  • Special Vehicles (150)

• Withdrawn from service or in store
  • T-55A withdrawal of over 200 units started in 2006 with a dozen or so tanks used for training until late 2009, but even that is no longer the case due to shortage of funds and all units have now been withdrawn and awaiting disposal.
  • M-47 Patton (16) (2 in the local army museum and rest are target practice)
  • M60P/M60SAN (45) (Yugoslav-made APCs - scrap heap and 2 in the local army museum)
  • BRDM-2
  • BTR-60 (16) (2 in the local army museum, scrap heap)
  • ZSU-57-2 (2) (target practice)
  • M53/59 Praga (24) (2 in the local army museum, scrap heap)

See also

• List of military equipment of Croatia
• List of Croatian soldiers

References and notes

Croatian Army • 
Croatian Navy  • 
Croatian Air Force and Air Defence