No HIMARS for Hungary, U.S. Blocks Arms Sale

Dániel Deme 2023.06.15.

U.S. Senator James E. Risch (Rep.) had revealed in a statement for the Washington Post that Washington is delaying its reply to the Hungarian Ministry of Defence concerning their request to buy 24 batteries of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, better known as HIMARS. He quoted Hungary’s delays in ratifying Sweden’s NATO membership request as a reason, however, his arguments do not stack up on multiple levels.

Senator Risch, who is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said that he is halting a 735 million dollars HIMARS sale to Hungary as punishment for the country’s refusal to approve NATO membership for Sweden. The order consisted of an initial batch of 24 launchers, and 100 rockets. In the past Risch was also instrumental in blocking F-35 fighter plane sales to Turkey.

Photo: Facebook Senator Jim Risch

“For some time now, I have directly expressed my concerns to the Hungarian government regarding its refusal to move forward a vote for Sweden to join NATO. The fact that it is now June and still not done, I decided that the sale of new U.S. military equipment to Hungary will be on hold,” he said.

However, the Senator’s argument does not quite stack up to the chronological order of events, and hints at a much deeper rift between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Hungary, leading back all the way to the White House.

The Hungarian Ministry of Defense has this week issued a statement, according to which

during the previous government term, the Government Commissioner for Procurement sent a letter requesting information on HIMARS missile systems with a deadline of March 2022. No reply was received from the US side, and the Department considered the matter closed”.

Sweden’s foreign minister, Ann Linde had signed her country’s application to join NATO on May 17, 2022, that is, two months after the deadline for reply from the DoD had passed. Although the details are classified, it is likely that the Hungarians had sent their request for the HIMARS launchers many months, if not a year in advance of their deadline. In other words, at the set date when the official deadline had passed, Sweden’s NATO accession request did not even exist. It is all the more surprising that a Republican senator should therefore bring it up as a reason retrospectively.

The real reason behind the refusal is more likely to be the fundamental political and ideological differences between the Biden administration and the government of Viktor Orbán. These date back to the very beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency, and have clearly nothing to do with NATO or Sweden. It is somewhat of a conjecture, but the reason why the Hungarian Air Force had decided to skip the order of 5th generation F-35 fighter planes from the U.S. was that the Biden administration would have likely stonewalled them just like they did with the HIMARS system.

Both Poland and Romania have ordered and received HIMARS from the U.S., with Poland also expecting a delivery of F-35 jets. The lack of a light artillery rocket system could leave a serious capability gap in the Hungarian defense forces arsenal, but the government is already looking at other alternatives to avoid such a situation. In January this year it has been reported in Turkish newspapers that during a meeting between Foreign Secretary Péter Szijjártó and Turkish Technology and Industry minister Mustafa Varank, it was suggested that Turkey would be able and willing to offer their alternative to the U.S. Himars system, the TRLG-230 Multiple Launch Rocket System. This weapons system is already in service with the Ukrainian armed forces and its capabilities are comparable with its American counterpart.

Korea also produces its version of the system, the K239 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers, which Poland had reportedly ordered due to delays with HIMARS. Israel with their own PULS rocket artillery system is also a direct competitor, their trucks and rockets are also significantly cheaper than their American counterpart. Finally, Sweden’s Saab Australia manufactures the SDB with similar capabilities, but Saab being a Swedish firm, this might not be an accessible path.

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Featured Photo: Wikipedia

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No HIMARS for Hungary, U.S. Blocks Arms Sale

during the previous government term, the Government Commissioner for Procurement sent a letter requesting information on HIMARS missile systems with a deadline of March 2022. No reply was received from the US side, and the Department considered the matter closed”.