Tactical Fire Ends Successfully in the Czech Republic

On Wednesday, 19 June in the morning hours, the Brezina air defence firing range near Hradiste (CZ) was resounding with the thunder of surface-to-air missiles of the NATO-declared MISTRAL platoon of the Győr SAM Regiment. The soldiers of the Hungarian subunit fired at FLG-5000 illuminating rockets – with success.

We were told that for the first time now, the exercise is taking place in three countries, namely in the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Romania, with the participation of soldiers from some ten nations. The Hungarians are executing tasks at all three venues, and the largest Hungarian contingent is operating in the Czech Republic, where it launches missiles only on the Brezina firing range.

Lt.-Col. Tibor Matyi, the acting commander of the HDF 12th Arrabona SAM Regiment told us that “during Exercise Tobruq Legacy 2017, the soldiers of the SAM regiment not only executed a live TACFIRE, but the NATO-declared MISTRAL platoon also underwent the scheduled TACEVAL process. He added that one of the most important objectives of the exercise was to practice interoperability in a multinational environment.

After the Hungarian TACFIRE, the other nations participating in the exercise in the Czech Republic – Americans, Czechs and Slovaks – carried out TACFIRE with various types of SAMs, including Strelas and Iglas.

Lt.-Col. Norbert Tóth, Commander, 2nd SAM Group, HDF 12th Arrabona SAM Regiment was satisfied with the TACFIRE of the Hungarian platoon. He told us that the missile launches were successful. “The operators gave proof of their professionalism and demonstrated that they know the NATO and national standard operating procedures, thanks to which we have executed a successful live fire exercise", the lieutenant-colonel emphasized. He added that although the TACFIRE is the most spectacular phase of Tobruq Legacy 2017, the greatest challenge was the NATO TACEVAL, “during which our platoon provided air defence cover for a simulated air base under the aerial target scenario written and compiled by the evaluators.

Photo: Tünde Rácz