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Croatia has approved a €1.945 billion defense modernization plan, marking its largest-ever military investment and including the purchase of 44 Leopard 2A8 tanks, 18 Caesar MK2 howitzers, 420 Tatra T-815-7 trucks, and a national counter-drone system. Most of the funding will come from the EU’s SAFE program, with the counter-drone component financed nationally. The Leopard 2A8 deal, worth about €1.3 billion, follows a 2024 agreement with Germany, under which Croatia transferred older M-84A4 Sniper tanks and M-80 IFVs to Ukraine in exchange for cost reductions and interim Leopard 2A4s. Deliveries are scheduled between 2028 and 2030, with Croatian companies Končar and Đuro Đaković involved in assembly and maintenance, aligning Croatia’s armored forces with NATO standards and strengthening its defense-industrial base.