Close and Indivisible Hungarian–American Cooperation

Speaking at a press briefing held in the break of discussions, Colleen Bell pointed out the close military cooperation between the two countries, and said she believed that it would continue into the future. Minister Hende stated that there is close and inseparable ongoing cooperation between the Hungarian and the US militaries in all important professional issues on the agenda of the meeting. This is true of the Hungarian commitment to the V4 battle group in the field of Close Air Support (CAS), and also of the entire Gripen program, as the United States provides essential support for the latter in the field of training and armaments. At the same time, there is a very close cooperation in the ongoing/projected tasks to be executed abroad, which currently present the greatest challenge to the Hungarian Air Force. In connection with these, the Minister of Defence mentioned the air policing mission in Slovenia that has been implemented in conjunction with the Italian partners since October 4 last year, and the Baltic Air Policing program starting from this September, which is to be conducted for four months.

Answering a question from the press, Minister Hende said that the generation of a national helicopter capability is on the government’s agenda, and the Ministry of Defence has fully completed the preparatory professional work relating to it. The cabinet is working to create a financial background for this capability. “I hope that these efforts are going to produce results in the foreseeable future", the Minister said. He added that the generation of Hungary’s helicopter capability with a common pool of resources can lead to significant synergies because it would provide a lot of benefits and savings in the fields of maintenance and pilot training. Apart from the armed forces, the ambulance service and the disaster management, the police and the counter-terror units are also helicopter users, so a solution to this issue goes far beyond the scope and possibilities of the Ministry of Defence.

Photo: Gábor Galovtsik