Hungarian Gripens Participate in International Exercise

Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / MTI | 2014. június 18. 9:00

The Gripen fighters of the Hungarian Defence Forces are participating in the international exercise Tiger Meet which started in Germany on Monday, June 16, the Ministry of Defence informed Hungarian News Agency MTI.

The MoD press release says that the main objectives of the annual meeting are to promote cooperation between the air forces, to create a better understanding of NATO military objectives and to develop unit interoperability. During the exercise, which is to end on June 27, the aircraft are flying complex missions which have been planned with using the lessons learned in real-world combat operations.

The aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces have so far participated in two Tiger Meets. The JAS 39 Gripen fighters of the Kecskemét Puma Squadron joined the exercises conducted in Belgium in 2009 and in the Netherlands in 2010. This year, the Schleswig-Jagel Air Base in Germany is hosting the exercise, in which the nominated personnel of the HDF 59th “Dezső Szentgyörgyi" Air Base – altogether 42 airmen – are participating with five Gripens and
An–26 logistic support.

To the Hungarians, participation in this year’s Tiger Meet is especially important because – based on their performance given during the 2009 exercise and the recommendation of all participating nations – the Kecskemét Pumas were then granted probationary member status in the NATO Tiger Association (NTA). Full NTA membership is granted after a unit has participated three times, and can be maintained through continuous presence. The full membership will be decided by voting during the ongoing exercise, according to the press release.