Croatia officially introduced the Leopard 2A4HRV into its armed forces, namely during the national military parade on July 31 in the capital Zagreb. This is the first time that the Leopard 2 platform is put into service in the country, which is a symbolic step in the modernization of the armored arsenal.
So far, only two units of the Leopard 2A4HRV have been delivered, which are only intended for training and ceremonial demonstrations, without a combat function. The vehicles serve as transition platforms up to the arrival of up to 50 Leopard 2A8, the delivery of which should begin in 2027 as part of a military agreement concluded with Germany.
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The Leopard 2A4HRV is based on the German model Leopard 2A4, which was produced between 1985 and 1992. It retains the vertically designed tower without the inclined armor inserted in later variants, and is equipped with a 120 mm flower metal L/44 cannon, a stabilized fire control system, a laser removal knife and optical devices for day and night operations. Its V12 biturbo engine MTU MB 873 KA-501 with 1,500 hp enables a top speed of 70 km/h and a range of up to 500 km, with a combat weight of around 55 tons.
Although it offers protection against kinetic ammunition, armor defense floors and mines, this version does not have active protection systems or modular armor. A special feature is the use of the German SEM-80/90 radio system, which works between 30.0 and 79.975 MHz in the VHF range, but is not compatible with the current digital NATO systems-in contrast to the Sincgar devices that are in the Croatian M-84A tanks be used.
The delivery of Leopard 2A4HRV is part of an agreement signed on October 28, 2024 between Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anušić and the German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. According to this, Croatia is handed over 30 m-84 tanks and 30 m-80 shooter tanks to the Ukraine and in return received fifty Leopard 2A8 from 2027.
The two 2A4HRV now delivered serve exclusively as reserve and training vehicles and symbolize the transition to a new generation of fighting tanks that are supposed to raise Croatia to a higher level within the mechanized NATO troops.
Croatia held a military parade in Zagreb on July 31 and displayed the first received Leopard 2 (technically designated as Leopard 2A4HRV, stands for Hrvatska).
The Leopard 2A4HRV retains German SEM 80/90 type antenna instead of the SINCGARS (RT-1702E) equipped on Croatian M-84A. pic.twitter.com/x06e2nkwrV– Ronkainen (@Ronkainen7k15) 6. August 2025
Source and pictures: X @ronkainen7k15. This content was created with the help of AI and checked by the editorial team.
