Croatia Country Commercial Guide
Learn about the market conditions, opportunities, regulations, and business conditions in croatia, prepared by at U.S. Embassies worldwide by Commerce Department, State Department and other U.S. agencies’ professionals
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Aerospace and Defense
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Overview 

Croatia is member of the NATO since 2009. About ten years ago, the country started modernization of its armed forces with the largest portion of funds allocated to the air force. In 2025, Croatia will finally reach the targeted 2% of its GDP spending for defense, and over 20% of that budget will be spent on major equipment procurement and research and development. Croatia’s defense budget for 2025 is $1.71 billion, increased by 17% from the previous year. According to the Prime Minister, the country will reach 2.5% in 2027. The Minister of Defense has pledged Croatia will meet its 5% of GDP defense spending obligation as a NATO member by 2035, creating significant defense sales opportunities over the coming decade.

The most developed and largest part of the Croatian military is the army. The Croatian military has around 15,000 personnel: about half in the land army, 10% in the navy, and 10% in the air force. The Ministry of Defense defines personnel as the military’s key asset and emphasizes the importance of training and education. 
 

Leading Sub-Sectors 

The most relevant recent acquisitions by the Croatian Ministry of Defense are:

Aviation

  • 12 Dassault Rafales F-3R procured from the French government in 2021 for 999 million Euros. All fighter jets were delivered by May 2025.
     
  • 12 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, acquired with the support of the U.S. government. Four helicopters were delivered in 2024, and eight more will arrive in 2028.
     
  • 6 Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles.

Military

  • Bradley Fighting Vehicles – 89 used vehicles are being acquired by Croatia with U.S. government support. 62 vehicles will be deployed to frontline units, five will be allocated for training, and the remaining 22 will be reserved for spare parts. The first four refurbished Bradley vehicles were tested in October 2024, and the full fleet should be delivered to the Army by 2026.
     
  • Leopard 2A8 tanks – Croatia will buy up to 50 new tanks from Germany.
     
  • Patria AMV – Croatia currently has 126 Patria vehicles in seven different versions.  Acquisition of an additional 30 Patria AMV’s is planned soon.
     
  • HIMARS M142 – eight systems, to be acquired through the U.S. government FMS program. 

Navy

In 2025, the Ministry of Defense sent out invitations for proposals to a dozen potential suppliers for construction of two corvette-class naval vessels.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Operations Center was established in 2022, with support of the U.S. government. Croatian military works closely with NATO (through Cyber Coalition and Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence) and the U.S. Cyber Command to maintain its cybersecurity capabilities. 

Space Program

While the space programs in Croatia are still in the early stages, the country achieved two milestones in the past two years:

  • Croatia received a status of cooperating state at the European Space Agency in 2023, when the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education subscribed Croatia for the Plan for European Cooperating State (PECS) Charter. Croatian cooperation with ESA started in 2019, and until today, four ESA calls for project financing have been finalized, investing about $5.5 million in 46 projects run by academic institutions and private companies.
     
  • The first ever Croatian satellite CRO Cube, nanosatellite 3.3 x 3.3 x 3.3 inches in size, was launched to space in December 2024 from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Opportunities

Croatia continues to modernize its systems and platforms in all segments of the military to align with NATO standards. Key projects include:

  •  New corvette naval vessels – in progress
  • Upgrade of communication systems
  • Acquisition or upgrade of control and command systems
  • Upgrade of cybersecurity capabilities

Most of Croatia’s defense equipment is imported from Western countries. However, there are also some advanced defense equipment manufacturing companies in Croatia, including HS Produkt (firearms manufacturer, with significant exports to the United States), Sestan-Busch (ballistic protective gear), DOK-ING (demining equipment), and ORQA (vision solutions for drones). Croatian defense manufacturers are gathered in the Croatian Defense Industry Competitiveness Cluster. 

Resources

Relevant Institutions

  • Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia
  • Croatian Defense Industry Competitiveness Cluster

Upcoming Events

  • Defcros Safety and Defense Exhibition, Osijek, September 11-15, 2025
  • Adriatic Sea Defense and Aerospace Exhibition and Conference, Spring 2027

U.S. Embassy - U.S. Commercial Service
Nina Cerkez, Commercial Specialist
Zagreb, Croatia
Tel:  +385 (0)1 661 2090
Email: Nina.Cerkez@trade.gov
Website: https://www.trade.gov/croatia