During a military parade in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, on July 31, 2025, the firstLeopard 2A4 tanks were spotted in the Croatian army's arsenal, apparently bearing the local designation Leopard 2A4HRV.
According to Army Recognition, the transfer of these tanks may serve as an interim step before the Croatian Armed Forces receive their first Leopard 2A8s. This raises the question of whether Zagreb is fulfilling its promise to transfer M-84 tanks, which are Yugoslavian "clones" of the T-72M1, to Ukraine.
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As the authors of this publication suggest, the Leopard 2A4 tanks spotted in the Croatian army were most likely transferred for training purposes and are not intended for combat use. At the same time, it is likely that only two tanks of this type were transferred.
In turn, these training vehicles will help prepare crews for 50 contracted Leopard 2A8 tanks, the first of which are to be delivered to Croatia in 2027.
It is worth recalling that Croatia had previously attempted to purchase Leopard tanks from Germany. These attempts were made in 2014 and 2015, alongside the purchase of PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, but were never realized due to financial constraints.
From Defense Express we would like to remind that back in October 2024, Croatia promised to transfer 30 M-84 tanks and 30 M-80A infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine as part of a "circular exchange" scheme with Germany.
In December 2024, a video surfaced on social media, reportedly showing the delivery of Croatian M-84 tanks to Germany for repairs and subsequent transfer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, there has been no confirmation of the possible receipt of tanks of this type from Croatia.
In a separate publication, we detailed the characteristics of the M-84, a Yugoslavian "clone" of the T-72M1, and also reported on Croatia's prior donation of 40 D-30 howitzers and two An-32B aircraft to Ukraine.
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