On Wednesday, 29 October 2025, the Defense Committee of the Croatian Parliament approved a major modernization package for the Croatian Armed Forces (Oružane snage Republike Hrvatske). Among the planned acquisitions are Polish SKYctrl anti-drone systems from Advanced Protection Systems (APS), in cooperation with the local company Končar d.d.
Polish antidrone system SKYctrl / Photo: Maciej Nędzyński/Polish Ministry of National Defence
The approved package, with a total value of 1.945 billion EUR is the largest planned investment in defense capabilities since independence in 1991. The details were presented to parliament by Defence Minister Ivan Anušić.
In addition to the Polish SKYctrl anti-drone systems, for which the framework agreement allocates 115–125 million EUR for 2026–2029, the procurement plan also includes 44 German Leopard 2A8 tanks for approximately 1.3 billion EUR, 18 French CAESAR 6×6 MkII 155 mm wheeled howitzers for ca. 320 million EUR, and 420 Czech high-mobility Tatra T-815-7 trucks in 6×6 and 8×8 configurations for approximately 200 million EUR.
While the purchase of the SKYctrl systems will be financed directly from the Croatian Ministry of Defence’s budget, the remaining, larger contracts will be funded through loans under the European SAFE (Security Action for Europe) instrument.
The Croatian Ministry of Defence has approved the acquisition of two stationary SKYctrl systems for the protection of critical infrastructure (soft-kill) and two mobile anti-drone systems (hard-kill). The corresponding framework agreements, with the domestic companies Končar d.d. and Đuro Đaković Grupa d.d., respectively, will be signed by the end of the year.
According to local media, Končar d.d. is already assumed to have an agreement with the Polish company for technology transfer to Croatia. Under this arrangement, Končar d.d. will act as the systems integrator and manufacturer of part of the equipment. This means that its specialists will combine computers, servers, network devices, and other hardware components delivered by the Polish side into a unified system. The Ministry of Defence states that part of the system’s production will be relocated to the country.
In the first phase, by mid-2027, the plan is to integrate the systems into tracking, jamming, and drone-interception suites, which will be combined into a single command-and-control system. The system will be cyber-secure and supported by artificial intelligence.
The second phase of the project, scheduled for 2028–2030, aims to introduce mobile counter-drone systems armed with a 30 mm automatic cannon with programmable ammunition, as well as Croatian-made FPV-class interceptor drones.
According to the manufacturer, the comprehensive SKYctrl anti-drone system is available in stationary, mobile, and vehicle-mounted variants (SKYctrl anti-drone system in service with the Polish Armed Forces).
SKYctrl consists of twenty-band jammers (ISM, VHF, UHF, GSM, UMTS, LTE, GNSS, Wi-Fi, and UKF) with output power ranging from 10 to 140 W, 360-degree pan-tilt-zoom cameras, sensors, Wi-Fi neutralizers (with a range of up to 5 km), and interchangeable X-band radars: Access (instrumental range 1–7 km), Advance (1–30 km), Range (1–50 km), and Follow (1–50 km).
SKYctrl precisely tracks multiple targets simultaneously, distinguishes birds from drones, reports the object’s exact 3D position in real time, and detects single objects, several at once, or even entire swarms of drones.
The main catalyst for Croatia’s push to strengthen its counter-drone defense was the incident involving a Ukrainian 6-ton jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicle, the Tu-141 Striž, which, during the ongoing full-scale war with Russia, crashed in Zagreb’s Jarun district during the night of 10–11 March 2022, after covering around 560 km. It appears the Tu-141 may have lost communication with its command-and-control station, flying in a straight line until it ran out of fuel. Although no one on the ground was injured (the aircraft crashed only a few metres from a dormitory, creating a 3-metre crater and damaging more than 60 cars), the incident exposed critical gaps in Croatia’s defense.
Video of the crash site of an unknown object in #Zagreb.
The mayor of the #Croatian capital said there is no indication that it was an intentional act.
The circumstances are being investigated. pic.twitter.com/VpMCDdRDR4
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 11, 2022
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