The Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia are the military forces of Croatia.
Kralj Petar Krešimir IV is a Kralj-class missile boat in service with the Croatian Navy. It was laid down in 1990 at the Kraljevica Shipyard as the first ship in a new class being built for the Yugoslav Navy. As the Croatian War of Independence started gaining momentum, shipyard workers stalled the completion of the ship until the remaining Yugoslav forces retreated, preserving the ship for the Croatian Navy that was being formed.
The Baćin massacre was the killing of 83 civilians just outside the village of Baćin, near Hrvatska Dubica, committed by Croatian Serb paramilitaries. The killings took place on 21 October 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Most of the civilians were Croats, but they also included two ethnic Serbs, taken from Hrvatska Dubica, Baćin and the nearby village of Cerovljani. The civilians were killed in the area of Krečane, at the very bank of the Una River, and their bodies were left unburied for two weeks. Most of them were subsequently bulldozed into a shallow mass grave, while a number of the bodies were thrown into the river. Further killings of Croat civilians continued in Baćin and surrounding areas until February 1992.
The Croatian National Guard was an armed force established by Croatia in April and May 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although it was established within the framework of the Ministry of the Interior for legal reasons, the ZNG was under the direct command of the Ministry of Defence. It was tasked with the protection of Croatia's borders and territory, and with tasks normally associated with police forces. The ZNG was formed with the transfer of special police units to the ZNG, establishing four all-professional brigades in May 1991, and was presented to the public in a military parade in Zagreb on 28 May. It was commanded by Defence Minister General Martin Špegelj before his resignation in early August. Špegelj was replaced by General Anton Tus, who became the first head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia.
The Battle of Zadar was a military engagement between the Yugoslav People's Army, supported by the Croatian Serb Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina, and the Croatian National Guard, supported by the Croatian Police. The battle was fought north and east of the city of Zadar, Croatia, in the second half of September and early October 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although the JNA's initial orders were to lift the Croatian siege of the JNA's barracks in the city and isolate the region of Dalmatia from the rest of Croatia, the orders were amended during the battle to include capturing the Port of Zadar in the city centre. The JNA's advance was supported by the Yugoslav Air Force and Navy.
The Saborsko massacre was the killing of 29 Croat residents of the village of Saborsko on 12 November 1991, following the seizure of the village in a Yugoslav People's Army and Croatian Serb offensive during the Croatian War of Independence. The fall of the town occurred as part of a JNA and Croatian Serb operation to capture a Croatian-held pocket centered on the town of Slunj, southeast of Karlovac. While the bulk of the civilian population fled with the surviving Croatian forces, those who remained in Saborsko were rounded up and either killed or expelled. The bodies of the victims were retrieved from two mass graves and several individual graves in 1995.
The VHS is a 5.56×45mm NATO bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured by HS Produkt of Croatia. The VHS rifle was first introduced at the 2007 iKA exhibition, the annual Croatian innovation display that takes place in the city of Karlovac. The development began from a Croatian Army request for a new infantry rifle to meet NATO standards.
The Končar class is a class of six missile boats built for the Yugoslav Navy during the late 1970s at Tito's Shipyard Kraljevica, SR Croatia. The boats featured a mixture of Western and Eastern European equipment, including Soviet anti-ship missiles and Swedish guns.
The Battle of Gospić was fought in the environs of Gospić, Croatia, from 29 August until 22 September 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. The battle pitted the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), stationed in five barracks in the town, and paramilitary elements of the Serbian Guard against the Croatian National Guard (ZNG), police forces based in Gospić and police reinforcements from elsewhere in Croatia. Fighting in the eastern districts of Gospić, controlled by JNA forces with supporting artillery, was largely static but the balance shifted in favor of the Croatian forces following the capture of several JNA depots and barracks on 14 September. The remaining barracks were captured by 20 September leading to the expulsion of the JNA and Serbian Guard forces from the town.
The Battle of the Dalmatian Channels was a three-day confrontation between three tactical groups of Yugoslav Navy ships and coastal artillery, and a detachment of naval commandos of the Croatian Navy fought on 14–16 November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. On 14 November, the commandos torpedoed the Mirna-class patrol boat PČ-176 Mukos close to the island of Brač in the Split Channel of the Adriatic Sea, prompting a Yugoslav naval bombardment of Brač and Šolta Island the same day. The drifting Mukos was salvaged by Croatian civilian boats and beached at Nečujam bay.
The Battle of Šibenik, also known as the September War, was an armed conflict fought between the Yugoslav People's Army, supported by the Croatian Serb-established Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina, and the Croatian National Guard, supported by the Croatian Police. The battle was fought to the north and west of the city of Šibenik, Croatia on 16–22 September 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The JNA's initial orders were to relieve Croatian siege of their barracks in the city and isolate the region of Dalmatia from the rest of Croatia. The JNA's advance was supported by the Yugoslav Air Force and the Yugoslav Navy.
Mile Dedaković is a retired Croatian Army colonel. Also known by his nom de guerreJastreb ("Hawk"), Dedaković is best known for commanding the 204th Vukovar Brigade and the city of Vukovar's defenses during the 1991 Battle of Vukovar in the early stages of the Croatian War of Independence.
The 1991 siege of Kijevo was one of the earliest clashes of the Croatian War of Independence. The 9th Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) led by Colonel Ratko Mladić and the forces of the Serbian Autonomous Oblast (region) of Krajina under Knin police chief Milan Martić besieged the Croat-inhabited village of Kijevo in late April and early May 1991. The initial siege was lifted after negotiations that followed major protests in Split against the JNA.
The Zrinski Battalion was a special forces unit of the Croatian National Guard and later of the Croatian Army established in Kumrovec on 18 May 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The unit drew personnel from the special police forces and a former French Foreign Legion troops serving as its core. The battalion was set up and initially commanded by Ante Roso, while Major Miljenko Filipović took over as the commanding officer in August.
The Silba class is a class of three landing ships, also used as minelayers, built for the Yugoslav (JRM) and Croatian Navy (HRM) during the 1980s and 1990s. The ships were built at the Brodogradilište specijalnih objekata shipyard in Split with slight differences in armament configuration between the last two ships. By the time the Croatian War of Independence started, one ship was in service with the JRM while another was being completed.
The 1st Croatian Guards Corps was a special formation of the Croatian Army directly subordinated to the Ministry of Defence rather than the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia and reporting directly to the President of Croatia. The corps was established in 1994 by the amalgamation of various HV special forces. The 2,500-strong unit was organised into the 1st Croatian Guards Brigade, a multi-purpose special forces combat unit, and four battalions tasked with ensuring the security of the President of Croatia and carrying out ceremonial duties. The HGZ took part in a number of military operations during the Croatian War of Independence and the Bosnian War. It was disbanded in 2000, when its components were amalgamated with other HV units to form the Special Operations Battalion, the 350th Military Intelligence Battalion, and the Honour Guard Battalion.
The Battle of Kusonje was a two-day clash fought in the village of Kusonje near the town of Pakrac on 8–9 September 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The battle was initiated when a platoon of the Croatian National Guard was ambushed by Croatian Serb forces while conducting a reconnaissance patrol. The ZNG deployed reinforcements to extract the ambushed platoon, but failed to reach them. The surviving members of the platoon held out until they ran out of ammunition and surrendered only to be killed by their captors and buried in a mass grave.
Operation Stinger was an offensive undertaken by the forces of the SAO Krajina, an unrecognized Croatian Serb region opposing the Republic of Croatia, against positions held by the Croatian police in the region of Banovina on 26–27 July 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. It was primarily aimed at police stations in Glina and Kozibrod, as well as police-held positions in a string of villages between the town of Dvor and Kozibrod. In addition to Glina and Kozibrod, heavy fighting took place in the village of Struga, north of Dvor, where Croatian Serb forces employed a human shield consisting of Croat civilians taken from their homes in Struga and the nearby village of Zamlača.
