Croatia moving closer to new corvettes procurement

According to local media reports, Croatia might be preparing to acquire two multipurpose corvettes as part of a modernization program for the Croatian Navy.

Frederik Van Lokeren story, additional reporting by Xavier Vavasseur

Croatian news website Jutarnji was the first to report on this topic, on January 6. There is however no official confirmation so far, and no news website reports on which class Croatia might purchase. Earlier, in September 2025, the Croatian Ministry of Defense reported that it was engaged in talks with as much as 12 shipyards from eight countries. The Croatians have also not listed a specific list of requirements that the new corvettes must meet though the focus appears to be on being able to perform multiple missions. With several classes reported to be in the running, the price of the acquisition is reported between 660 million and 1.6 billion euros, possibly depending on the design that will be chosen. Delivery of the first corvette is expected to take place around 2029-2030. There is reportedly also a strong preference to build the corvettes domestically and have the necessary technology transferred to Croatia.

New corvettes to meet new operational needs

The new corvettes are part of an effort to modernize and expand the Croatian naval capabilities. Currently, the Croatian Navy operates a fleet of older missile boats and patrol boats. The current navy is centered on five missile boats spread over the Koncar-class, the Helsinki-class, and the Kralj-class. These are augmented by the five patrol boats of the Mirna-class and Omis-class. These vessels lack the necessary range and endurance to protect Croatia’s maritime interests beyond the Adriatic Sea and restrict the navy to largely littoral operations.

Given these older vessels, with their main focus on surface warfare, the Croatian Navy is in need for vessels that can also contribute in the other domains of naval warfare, notably anti-submarine warfare and air-defense. Both these capabilities are currently lacking in the Croatian Navy which for air defense largely relies on shore based weapon systems and radars.

The new vessels will possibly also play a significant role in projecting power in the Adriatic Sea and parts of the Mediterranean.  This capability is significant given the fact that Croatia is currently playing a larger role in maritime energy trade for the Balkans and Central Europe. With Russian pipelines to Europe largely being severed and out of operation due to the Russo-Ukrainian war, Croatia suddenly finds itself in a position where it can play a significant regional role as an importer of energy via the Adriatic Sea and distribute it through existing pipelines to the Balkans and Central Europe. Such an increased role would require Croatia to be more able to provide maritime security for the increased maritime traffic heading to and from Croatian ports. Multimission warships would thus allow Croatia to better defend its maritime trade and be able to contribute in a significant manner to international naval operations and deepening maritime cooperation with other nations.

Political dilemma’s might impact final decision

Choosing the new class of corvettes will be difficult for Croatia. Reportedly, Croatia has the option to choose from several classes of corvettes from different nations, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. According to several industry sources with knowledge of the Croatian procurement project, contacted by Naval News, the corvettes under consideration are known and reported and include:

• the Croatian BIS-91 design,
• the French Gowind-class,
• the German K-130-class,
• the German-Romanian MMPV (to be built in Romania)
• the European Patrol Corvette (EPC),
• the Italian FCX30 corvettes,
• the Dutch Sigma-class corvettes,
• the Spanish Avante-2200 corvette,
• American Littoral Combat Ships,
• the Turkish ADA-class,
• the Turkish Hisar-class,
• the Turkish C92-class,
• the British Arrowhead 120,
• the Israeli Reshef-class,
• a design by Saab of Sweden (with likely involvement of Singapore’s ST Engineering),
• and an unspecified design from South Korea.

The final decision on which class of vessel will be selected will have significant political weight. Croatia finds itself trapped in several commitments, each able to favor a certain class of corvette and excluding others. Croatia on one hand has a close cooperation with France, meaning that the choice for the Godwin-class could further strengthen this cooperation.

At the same time, choosing for the EPC would allow Croatia to strengthen its position in the European Union and allow for closer cooperation with fellow Mediterranean partners such as Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. Croatia is already holding an observer status in this project together with Portugal and Ireland. The EPC program is however still in development and no vessels are currently in production making the timeline for first delivery by 2030 difficult.

The desire to build these corvettes domestically could favor the German bid as Rheinmetall recently took over the military construction branch of the Lürssen naval division. The purchase is still under evaluation and requires antitrust approval but is expected to be completed at the beginning of this year. This purchase gave Rheinmetall four additional shipyards in Germany and several subsidiaries including one located at Rijaka in Croatia. Rheinmetall could thus realistically offer to build corvettes locally in Croatia and complete a transfer of technology

Then there is the case of the Ada-class corvettes which are already in use by Turkey and Ukraine, countries which have good relations with Croatia. The Turks seem keen to win the order, reportedly using diplomatic means and port visits to strengthen their influence over the Croatian Ministry of Defense. A Turkish port visit on November 6, 2024, by the Ada-class frigate TCG Burgazada involved a visit by a delegation including  the Turkish ambassador Hayriye Nurdan Erpulat Altuntaş, Turkish Military Attache in Zagreb, Colonel Cüneyt Ali Demirtürk, and the Commander of the Croatian Navy, Captain Damir Dojkic

As for availability, the United States Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program offers a fast solution as the US Navy is retiring these vessels as soon as they are build. This could result in Croatia acquiring two of these vessels relatively fast and probably at a discount as the US Navy is in a hurry to get rid of these vessels.

A safer political choice would be to go for the British, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish or South Korean offers as these are neutral in terms of political weight. The Gowind, FCX30, Avante 2200 and Sigma-class corvettes are proven designs that meet the initial needs set forth by Croatia while the South Koreans can offer modern vessels with a speedy delivery time. Though these three options would be political neutral, they risk preventing the deeper integration and cooperation of Croatia might gain through shared designs of regional allies. Perhaps the difficulty in making a choice that suits both Croatia’s military needs and political need for enhanced maritime cooperation can be the basis on why the actual acquisition of these two new corvettes has been developing slowly in recent months.