page_title: Croatia
section_title: Military
hierarchical_section_title: Croatia / Politics / Military
caption_attribution_description: English: Pula, Croatia -- An F-14 &#8220;Tomcat&#8221; fighter assigned to the &#8220;Jolly Rogers&#8221; of Fighter Squadron One Zero Three (VF-103) leads a formation comprised of F/A-18 &#8220;Hornet&#8221; strike fighters from the &#8220;Blue Blasters&#8221; of VFA-34, the &#8220;Sunliners&#8221; of VFA-81, and the &#8220;Rampagers&#8221; of VFA-83. U.S. aircraft belong to Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17), currently embarked on board. Two Croat MiG-21 &#8220;Fishbed&#8221; fighter-interceptors flank the each side of the formation. U.S. Navy aviation squadrons assigned to Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW-17) have sent a detachment to Croatia in order to participate in Joint Wings 2002. Joint Wings is a multinational exercise between the U.S. and the Croat Air Force designed to practice intelligence gathering. George Washington is homeported in Norfolk, Va., and is nearing the end of a scheduled six month deployment after completing combat missions in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Southern Watch. U.S. Navy photograph by CAPT Dana Potts. (RELEASED)
context_page_description: Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Southeast Europe. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Italy. Its capital, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, along with twenty counties. Croatia has an area of 56,594 square kilometres and a population of 4.07 million, most of whom are Catholics.
  Croatia has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age. The Croats arrived in the area in the 6th century and organised the territory into two duchies by the 9th century. Croatia was first internationally recognized as an independent state on 7 June 879 during the reign of duke Branimir. Tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom, which retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries. During the succession crisis after the Trpimirović dynasty ended, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of Austria to the Croatian throne.
context_section_description: The Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) consist of the Air Force, Army, and Navy branches in addition to the Education and Training Command and Support Command. The CAF is headed by the General Staff, which reports to the Defence Minister, who in turn reports to the President of Croatia. According to the constitution, the President is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and in case of immediate threat during wartime he issues orders directly to the General Staff.
  
  Following the 1991–95 war defence spending and CAF size have been in constant decline. As of 2005 military spending was an estimated 2.39% of the country's GDP, which placed Croatia 64th in a ranking of all countries. Since 2005 the budget was kept below 2% of GDP, down from the record high of 11.1% in 1994. Traditionally relying on a large number of conscripts, CAF also went through a period of reforms focused on downsizing, restructuring and professionalisation in the years prior to Croatia's accession to NATO in April 2009. According to a presidential decree issued in 2006 the CAF is set to employ 18,100 active duty military personnel, 3,000 civilians and 2,000 voluntary conscripts between the ages of 18 and 30 in peacetime.
  Compulsory conscription was abolished in January 2008. Until 2008 military service was compulsory for men at age 18 and conscripts served six-month tours of duty, reduced in 2001 from the earlier scheme of nine-month conscription tours. Conscientious objectors could instead opt for an eight-month civilian service.
  As of April 2011 the Croatian military had 120 members stationed in foreign countries as part of United Nations-led international peacekeeping forces, including 95 serving as part of the UNDOF in the Golan Heights. As of 2011 an additional 350 troops serve as part of the NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan and another 20 with the KFOR in Kosovo.
  Croatia also has a significant military industry sector which exported around US$120 million worth of military equipment and armament in 2010. Croatian-made weapons and vehicles used by CAF include the standard sidearm HS2000 manufactured by HS Produkt and the M-84D battle tank designed by the Đuro Đaković factory. Uniforms and helmets worn by CAF soldiers are also locally produced and successfully marketed to other countries.
caption: Croatian Air Force and US Navy aircraft participate in multinational training, 2002
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "021029-N-1955P-020-- Pula, Croatia -- A Fighter Squadron One Zero Three (VF 103) \"Jolly Rogers\"  F-14B \"Tomcat\" leads a formation with three U.S. Navy F/A-18 \"Hornets,\" assigned to the Strike Fighter Squadrons Three Four (VFA 34) \"Blue Blasters,\" Eight One (VFA 81) \"Sunliners,\" and Eight Three (VFA 83) \"Rampagers,\" and two Croat MiG-21s.  U.S. Navy aviation squadrons assigned to Carrier Air Wing Seventeen (CVW 17) have sent a detachment to Croatia in order to participate in Joint Wings 2002.  CVW 17 is currently on board USS George Washington (CVN 73) for a six month deployment.\rU.S. Navy photograph by CAPT Dana Potts, CAG, CVW 17.\rPhotograph authorized for public release by ENS Dennis Narlock, CVW 17 Pula Det. PAO.", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2002:10:30 07:42:59", "Image Artist": "CAPT Dana Potts", "Image ExifOffset": "920", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1058", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3564", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2100", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1369"}