The Hungarian military has had a year filled with developments. New additions have arrived into the arsenal and upgrades have been implemented.
It has been an eventful year for the Hungarian Defense Forces. The old Chief of Staff Major General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi has been replaced by Major General Gábor Böröndi. Recruitment is in full swing, joint military exercises with several nations have taken place in Hungary and numerous new weapons have been introduced to the military. Let’s take a peek at the new weapons that arrived this year and how the current military arsenal is looking.
Air Defense
Hungary’s air defense has seen significant improvements this year, making up for more than 20 years of lag. Since the mass dismantling in 2010, the Hungarian airspace has not been properly protected. However, this fall marked a new level in the Hungarian ground-based air defense. The first two batteries arrived from the NASAMS, which is a Norwegian-American air defense missile system. It provides real and reliable protection against modern fighter jets, helicopters, drones, and cruise missiles.
Additionally, the defendable area is several times larger with NASAMS. This new air defense system has a network-based operation, advanced communication system, and exceptional hit accuracy, which completely elevates Hungarian air defense, vg.hu writes. The Gripens also received extra upgrades, namely extra missiles, which are also compatible with the NASAMS system.
Helicopters in the Air Force
New helicopters arrived at the Hungarian Defense Forces this year. The fleet got updated with the first four out of the 14 previously ordered Airbus H225Ms. Similar to the previously arrived models, some of the new additions will be equipped for fire support tasks. What’s more, two years ago, Hungary ordered the German IRIS-T, considered one of the world’s best short-range air-to-air missiles, for its fighter jets. To summarise, Hungarian air defense has modernised drastically in the previous period, and now fits the requirements of the 21st century threats that may arise.
Tanks
The first four Leopard 2A7+ arrived at the Tata armored brigade, out of the 44 that Hungary previously has ordered.
The Leopard 2A7+ is one of the world’s most modern tanks, but Hungary may acquire an even more effective weapon in the second half of the decade as Rheinmetall’s Zalaegerszeg plant participates in the development of the company’s newest tank, the Panther.
The first Lynx armored fighting vehicle was completed at the Zalaegerszeg plant, which has an annual production capacity of 50. The Hungarian Defense Forces ordered a total of 209 Lynx infantry fighting vehicles and the first 46 will come from Germany. This year also marked the completion of Hungary’s self-propelled howitzer fleet, which now consists of 24 PzH 2000s. The Hungarian artillery underwent a gigantic technological leap with these new weapons.
Industrial Growth
In addition to Rheinmetall’s investment in Zalaegerszeg, where they completed the building of the military plant there have been some other new investments. Such as a weapons factory being established in Győr, which will manufacture Gidrán 4X4 MRAPs. The Hungarian Defense Forces plan to deploy a total of 400-500 Gidrán vehicles in various configurations. Among them, the two most exciting types could be the mortar-equipped version and the artillery reconnaissance vehicle. There will likely be traditional troop carriers and gunners, command and casualty transport versions as well.
A domestically owned ammunition factory will be established based on the prestigious Italian Beretta license. It will produce NATO standard ammunition rounds, meeting the needs of modern machine guns and rifles deployed in the Hungarian Defense Forces.
All in all, there have been various minor and major developments through the year. It can be said that the above list includes only the most significant military developments. Based on all this, the arsenal of the Hungarian Defense Forces has grown significantly this year, and there has been no shortage of new announcements.
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