MILITARY EXERCISES
Croatia remains active when it comes to military exercises and, based on public sources, it is estimated that it has participated in 14 such exercises in 2022. Some of them were conducted on a multilateral basis, with NATO. Bilateral military exercises have been conducted mostly with the US (5 exercises), but also with France (2 exercises) and the UK (1 exercise). Exercises related to special forces and maritime exercises were represented as well. Croatia also participated in a multinational naval exercise, “ADRION LIVEX 2022”, organised under the auspices of the regional Adriatic-Ionian Initiative (ADRION).
DONATIONS
The United States appears to be the country’s biggest military donor, much like in 2021. In 2022, Croatia received two UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters from the US, estimated at USD 55 million.
To assist Croatia in acquiring Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), the US pledged to provide USD 51.1 million in European Recapitalisation Incentive Programme (ERIP) financial aid to Croatia, with Croatia being obliged to secure the remaining USD 145.3 million of the total transaction amounting to USD 196.4 million. Some sources noted that, with the arrival of Black Hawk helicopters, the US military assistance to Croatia reached USD 685 million. It is not possible to determine the accuracy of this assessment and whether it took into account the deal on Bradley vehicles, which was made in the same period.
