NATO Radar – Csaba Hende: Air Surveillance in Hungary Is Complete with the Medina Radar
Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / MTI | 2014. március 18. 15:52Medina, Tuesday, March 18 2014 (MTI). The radar station at Medina completes Hungary’s air surveillance capability, which serves the joint defence of the nation and all NATO member countries, the Minister of Defence said during the inauguration ceremony of a 3D radar tower at Medina, Tolna County.
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This issue is so important that NATO covers 94 per cent of the construction costs from its own budget, he added.
The Minister of Defence thanked the people of Medina for “helping the defence of the country", referring to the failure of projects aimed at building the installation at two earlier designated sites in the Mecsek Hills.
Csaba Hende, MP István Horváth and Attila Vén, the mayor of Medina cut a red-white-green ribbon
“We remember the undeserved ordeal which the Hungarian Defence Forces had to suffer due to the mistakes made by the previous Minister of Defence and political leadership", he noted. He said that the people living near the designated site had not been told what purposes this equipment – which is needed for our common security – would serve, adding that the “pseudo-scientific, often ridiculous phantom dangers" are not to be feared.
“Defence of the homeland is a common cause, which cannot be pursued against the people’s will", he said, adding that the project now completed at Medina is accepted by the people of Medina, the Hungarian Defence Forces and NATO as well.
“We can bring Hungary’s renewal to success only together, so on April 6, together we will decide if we can go further down this road", he said, asking his audience to support “the forces renewing the country".
The 45-meter tall radar tower was inaugurated in a ceremony by Csaba Hende, István Horváth (Fidesz-KDNP), the MP of Szekszárd, and Attila Vén (Fidesz-KDNP), the mayor of Medina. The installation was built by the MoD ED Co. and Megalogistic Co. with a HUF 1.1 billion investment, by the deadline of January 31, 2014.
Referring to the expansion of the Paks nuclear plant in his welcome speech, István Horváth said that air defence was important also because Tolna County would become the scene of significant investments, and it is important to make sure that these projects are implemented in a secure environment.
The Medina radar tower has been finished
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Lajos Móró, the CEO of MoD ED Co. noted that the MoD Armcom Ltd and MoD Arsenal Ltd also participated in the construction, and that, in contrast to what had happened earlier, instead of competing with each other, the joint-stock companies of the Ministry of Defence submitted a joint tender.
As he said, the radar tower – which stands on 111 pillars and is made of 117 tons of reinforcing steel and 1061 cubic meters of concrete – withstands the vagaries of the weather. The RAT 31-DL radar equipment to be operated at Medina is a product of the Italian company Selex ES, and the Italian experts have already installed the technical modules. According to information released earlier by the MoD, the 3D radar is expected to enter full service in the first quarter of 2015.
The new radar replaces the Soviet-made radar technology, which was installed at the Medina radar station in 1987. Besides the Medina radar, two already operating gap-filling radar companies as well as the 3D radars at Békéscsaba and Bánkút together perform air surveillance in the airspace of Hungary.
In addition to the construction of the radar tower, the North Atlantic Alliance will contribute to the operation of the radar station over the next 19 years.
Photos by Gábor Kálmánfi
