Croatia officially introduced the main battle tank Leopard 2A4HRV into its Armed Forces during the National Military Parade held on July 31 in the Zagreb capital. This is the first time the Leopard 2 platform has been in service in the country, marking a symbolic step in modernizing its armored arsenal.
To date, only two units of Leopard 2A4HRV have been delivered exclusively to training and ceremonial exhibition, with no combat function. The vehicles act as temporary platforms until the arrival of up to 50 Leopard 2A8 tanks, scheduled to start in 2027, as part of a military agreement signed with Germany.
Leopard 2A4HRV is based on the German model Leopard 2A4, produced between 1985 and 1992. It maintains the vertical design tower without the angular shield introduced into subsequent variants, and is equipped with a main 120 mm l/44 Rheinmetall cannon, laser tall and optical devices for diurn and night operations. Its V12 Biturbo MB 873 Ka-501 engine of 1,500 horsepower allows a maximum speed of 70 km/he autonomy of up to 500 km, with a combat weight of about 55 tons.
Although it offers protection against kinetic ammunition, anti -tanker projectiles and mine resistance, this version has no active protection systems or modular shielding. A peculiar feature is the use of the 80/90 radio system, which operates in VHF between 30.0 and 79.975 MHz, but is not compatible with current NATO digital systems – unlike Sincgars used in m-84a fences Croats.
The delivery of Leopard 2A4HRV is part of an agreement signed on October 28, 2024 among Croatia’s defense ministers, Ivan Anušić, and Germany, Boris Pistorius. From the understanding, Croatia will transfer 30 M-84 tanks and 30 M-80 infantry combat vehicles to Ukraine, receiving 50 Leopard 2A8 from 2027.
The two 2a4hrv delivered now act only as reserve and training units, symbolizing the transition to a new generation of armored armor that should put Croatia at a higher level within NATO mechanized forces.
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) August 6, 2025
Source and images: x @ronkainen7k15, this content was created with the help of AI and revised by the editorial team.
