Rheinmetall, headquartered in Zalaegerszeg (western Hungary), is a key player in Hungary’s defense industry.Continue reading
Another 2 Leopard 2A7HU tanks have arrived in Hungary, more than half of the ordered number of the new “big cats,” stressed Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, adding that the last delivery of one of the world’s most modern combat vehicles was on September 20.
With the new equipment, the 11th Tank Battalion of the Tata (northwestern Hungary) Armored Brigade of the Hungarian Defense Forces will now have 24 new vehicles, he added.
According to the minister, the rearmament of the unit is progressing well: the equipment that is now arriving, as well as the training at home and the factory training in Germany, will ensure the retraining of the personnel from the former T-72 tanks to the new technology.
The renewed armored force will be completed by 2028, by which time 44 Leopard 2A7HU, 5 Wisent 2HU tractors and 3 Leguan 2HU bridge launchers will arrive in Hungary,”
pointed out Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky.
He stressed that the number of the new combat vehicles proves that the Hungarian government made the right decision in 2016 when it launched the development of the armed forces. Hungary’s budget is a sufficient guarantee for the continuation of the defense and military development program, which guarantees a 2% of GDP level of defense spending in 2024, in line with NATO expectations.
The first training exercise of Leopard 2A7HU tanks in Hungary, the system adjustment firing of the armored vehicles took place at the shooting range in Szomód (northwestern Hungary), said Major Norbert Nagy, deputy commander of the tank battalion.
The three-day series of events tested how the operators had mastered what they had learned in training and how accurately they could hit their targets.
Earlier, they had already carried out firing with the armored personnel and adjusted the gun’s guidance equipment.
Via Honvedelem.hu; Featured image via Facebook/Szalay-Bobrovniczky Kristóf