Kuwaiti М-84AB Tanks on the Move to Croatia, Possibly Destined for Ukraine

Kuwaiti М-84AB main battle tanks, originally manufactured in Yugoslavia, have been spotted heading to Croatia.

This is according to Andrii Tarasenko, a Ukrainian researcher specializing in armored vehicles.

The revelation came to light when Tarasenko shared a photo taken in the Slovenian city of Ljubljana, showcasing the М-84 tanks adorned in desert camouflage. The tanks are reported to be en route to the facilities of the Croatian holding company, Đuro Đaković, as per information obtained from Serbian media outlet TV Front.

While the tanks are speculated to undergo repair and modernization in Croatia, there are no official reports to confirm this information. TV Front suggests that after this process, the tanks could potentially find their way to Ukraine. The Croatian М-84 tanks might be replaced by German-made Leopard 2A4 tanks, the media outlet added.

The decision to transfer the М-84AB tanks is rumored to have emerged following the death of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah. The tanks, a Yugoslav version of the Soviet Т-72, were initially produced in the mid-1980s and became part of the Yugoslav army's inventory. After the disintegration of Yugoslavia, these tanks found their way into the arsenals of various Balkan nations, including Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The M-84AB, a specialized version developed for the Kuwaiti military, originated from a 1989 Kuwaiti order for 200 tanks. The contract included 15 command and 15 armored recovery vehicles. During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, only a portion of the ordered tanks had been delivered, with the rest being supplied to the remnants of the Kuwaiti army in Saudi Arabia.

As of 2022, Kuwait possesses approximately 149 M-84 tanks, with some in storage. However, the role of the primary tank for Kuwaiti forces has shifted to the M1A2 tanks, of which around 210 are currently in service.