A joint Hungarian-US military exercise, Warlord Rock 2015, started in four locations in western Hungary on Sunday. The ten-day exercise, which includes live firing and airborne operations, involves more than 750 troops from the US 173rd Airborne Brigade and from Hungary’s 5th Bocskai István Infantry Brigade. Part of the exercise will be attended by US Army Europe Commander Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges and Hungarian Defence Minister Csaba Hende on Thursday next week, the Defence Ministry’s statement said.
The objective of the Warlord Rock 2015 exercise is to allow fighting, combat support (CS) and combat service support (CSS) forces to prepare in allied cooperation for planning, organizing and conducting airdrop operations. The missions are being performed under Hungarian control at four designated locations, on Aviano Air Base, Italy, Pápa Air Base, Hungary and in the military training area of Várpalota.
Earlier this month he Hungarian defence minister has proposed that NATO should set up a 40-strong integration unit in the city of Székesfehérvár, Hungary. Csaba Hende said that half of the NATO Forces Integration Unit (NFIU) staff would come from other NATO countries while the rest would come from the Hungarian armed forces. Hende also noted that establishing such a unit would make the country’s defence systems more efficient and it would ensure a smoother cooperation with NATO.
Previously Csaba Hende has also announced major Hungarian defence tasks for 2015, including the introduction of a career model in the armed forces and continuing the modernisation of military hardware with a special focus on purchasing a new helicopter fleet. Meanwhile, Zsolt Németh, head of the Hungarian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, has hinted that Hungary was considering military participation in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).
via hungarymatters.hu and kormany.hu photo: honvedelem.hu