3D Radar Enters Service in Medina

Minister Hende pointed out that some 500,000 aircraft fly across the airspace of Hungary every year, so the deployment of the state-of-the-art surveillance system is indispensable. Also referring to the Gripen fighter jets, the Minister said that the Hungarian Defence Forces are doing everything that can be done here, in Europe today, at the beginning of the 21st century, with a view to defending Hungary’s airspace. At the same time, the radar is very important to NATO as well, which is shown by the fact that the Alliance financed 94 per cent of the construction costs from its own budget, and will also provide funding for the operation of the radar up to 2033. The Minister added that it is a huge success that the radar system has been built and is about to enter service, but also added that the greatest success is that “it is no longer an empty slogan that national defence is a common cause, a cause that we can bring to fruition only in agreement with the people."

The Minister noted that the decision about the construction of 3D radar stations had been made in the late 90s, and altogether three stations were to be set up in Bánkút, Békéscsaba and the Zengő Hill, and later on Tubes Hill. The latter two sites, however, were strongly opposed by local NGOs and environmental protection organizations, so after a long wrangle, construction started in Medina. The Minister said that due to a series of bad decisions in the field of public affairs, the previous leadership of the Ministry of Defence had not explained to the locals properly the importance and harmlessness of the operation of the radar. The radar had been a history of failure until 2010, he emphasized, adding from that point on, after careful consideration and preparations, the choice of Medina as a construction site caused no trouble.

According to earlier information released by the Ministry of Defence, the 45-meter tall radar tower based on 111 columns is built of 117 tons of reinforcing steel and 1061 cubic meters of concrete. The RAT 31-DL radar system operating in Medina was manufactured by the Italian company Selex ES, and the technical units were installed by Italian experts. The new radar replaces the Soviet system set up at the Medina radar station in 1987.

Photo: Veronika Dévényi