Armed Forces of Croatia

Armed Forces of Croatia
Oružane Snage Republike Hrvatske (Croatian)
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	Yes (2 months)
Active personnel	14,100 (2023.)
Reserve personnel	17,580
Deployed personnel	Iraq – 26[1]  Lithuania – 195[1]  Hungary – 205[1]  Poland – 161[1]  Kosovo – 520[1]  India /  Pakistan – 20[1]  Western Sahara – 12[1]
Expenditure
Budget	€1.506 billion[2] ($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.^[3] 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.^[4]

The Army has 650 AFVs, around 150 pieces of Artillery, 105 MLRSs, 75 Tanks, and 25 SPGs. The Air Force has 12 Dassault Rafale F3-R fighter jets, 4 UH-60 helicopters, 10 Mi-171 combat-transport helicopters and 15 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.^[5]