July the 8th, 2026 – Croatia joins a seven-nation military transport aircraft programme as part of a wider multinational initiative.
Poslovni reports that Croatia has now officially joined six NATO allies in a multinational initiative to develop and operate a shared fleet of Airbus A400M military transport aircraft, marking a significant step towards strengthening the country’s strategic airlift capabilities.
Defence Minister Ivan Anušić announced the move after signing a letter of intent on the opening day of the NATO Summit in Ankara, Türkiye. The programme brings together Belgium, France, Croatia, Poland, Spain, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.
Five of the participating countries already operate the Airbus A400M, while Croatia and Poland currently lack this type of heavy military transport capability. The A400M can carry payloads of up to 37 tonnes over distances of around 4,500 kilometres and is designed to operate from short, rough and unprepared airstrips, making it suitable for military deployments, humanitarian missions and disaster relief operations.
Anušić stressed that Croatia will not incur any financial obligations under the programme before 2030. “This is a project of great importance. It is about the rapid air transport of our troops and, of course, the troops of our allies,” the defence minister said. He added that Croatia’s participation beyond 2030 will be determined through future agreements with partner nations operating the aircraft, with the expectation that the country will contribute as a NATO ally under jointly agreed arrangements.
The multinational fleet is intended to improve strategic mobility across the alliance by allowing participating countries to share access to military transport aircraft rather than each maintaining a separate fleet.
For Croatia, the project represents an opportunity to gain access to heavy airlift capabilities that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive to acquire and operate independently, while improving its ability to deploy troops, equipment and humanitarian assistance alongside NATO partners.
