Croatia Military - 2024

Military and security forces

Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Oruzane Snage Republike Hrvatske, OSRH): Ground Forces (Hrvatska Kopnena Vojska, HKoV), Naval Forces (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica, HRM; includes Coast Guard), Air Force (Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo, HRZ) (2024)

note: the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for internal security, including law enforcement (Croatia Police) and border security

Military expenditures

1.8% of GDP (2023 est.)
1.8% of GDP (2022)
2% of GDP (2021)
1.7% of GDP (2020)
1.6% of GDP (2019)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 15,000 active-duty personnel (10,000 Army; 1,500 Navy; 1,500 Air force; 2,000 joint/other) (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the military's inventory is a mix of Soviet-era equipment and a growing amount of more modern weapon systems from Western suppliers, including France, Germany, and the US (2024)

Military service age and obligation

18-27 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription abolished in 2008 (2024)

note: as of 2021, women comprised nearly 15% of the military's full-time personnel

Military deployments

150 Kosovo (KFOR/NATO); 175 Lithuania (NATO; Croatia also has a few hundred personnel participating in several other EU, NATO, and UN missions (2024)

note: in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, some NATO countries have sent additional troops and equipment to the battlegroups deployed in NATO territory in eastern Europe

Military - note

the Armed Forces of Croatia (OSRH) are responsible for the defense of Croatia’s sovereignty and territory, contributing to international humanitarian, peacekeeping, and security missions, and providing assistance to civil authorities for such missions as responding to disasters, search and rescue, anti-terrorism, and internal security in times of crisis if called upon by the prime minister or the president; Croatia joined NATO in 2009, and the OSRH participates in NATO missions, including its peacekeeping force in Kosovo and the Enhanced Forward Presence mission in Eastern Europe; it also contributes to EU and UN missions; the OSRH trains regularly with NATO and regional partners  

the OSRH was established in 1991 from the Croatian National Guard during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-95); during the war, the ground forces grew to as many as 60 brigades and dozens of independent battalions, and a single military offensive against Serbian forces in 1995 included some 100,000 Croatian troops; in 2000, Croatia initiated an effort to modernize and reform the OSRH into a small, professional military capable of meeting the challenges of NATO membership; the current 15,000-strong military’s principal combat forces are two mechanized infantry brigades, a small joint service special operations command, a flotilla of missile boats and coastal patrol vessels, and a squadron of Soviet-era fighter aircraft that are in the process of being replaced by more modern French aircraft  (2023)