National Consensus on Rotary-Wing and Airlift Capabilities

In the morning of Wednesday, May 22, upon Minister of Defence Csaba Hende’s initiative a four-party consultation was held in the Ministry of Defence on the current state of the rotary and fixed-wing capabilities of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Besides the Minister of Defence, also present at the meeting were Zsolt Csampa (Fidesz), Imre Iváncsik (MSZP), Nándor Jámbor (Jobbik), Zsolt Németh (Jobbik) and Tamás Básthy (KDNP). At a press conference held after the meeting, Minister Hende said that they had reached a four-party consensus and complete agreement on the key issues on the agenda. Both the rotary-wing and the fixed-wing capabilities must be preserved and recreated, because it is the interest of the country and the nation – in this spirit, the invitees unanimously thanked the Ministry of Defence for the professional preparation of these two issues, based on the available information. The four parties fully agree on the procedure and the schedule drawn up by the MoD for managing these issues.

Minister Hende told the press that the representatives of the parties had agreed that the rotary-wing and fixed-wing capabilities of the Hungarian Defence Forces were obsolete, and the final loss of capabilities would be totally impermissible and unacceptable. The Ministry is currently working out a complex approach in order to be able to find the most economical and professional long-term solution, and to implement the optimal development projects. With the closedown of MALÉV, Hungary has been left without a state-owned airlift capability, so currently neither the military nor the civil nor the other state-level needs are satisfied, and the An-26 transport aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces are also obsolete. The goal is to create a state-owned airlift fleet, which would be able to carry out the tasks of passenger and cargo transport for Hungary and the Hungarian Defence Forces cost-effectively and independently. This means airlifts to foreign missions and the delivery of hazardous materials to their destination that are not transportable by civil aircraft, the rescue of Hungarian citizens who are left stranded abroad because of extraordinary conditions and their required in-flight medical treatment, as well as the management of emergency organ transportation by air and the tasks of other state-level and law enforcement bodies abroad.

The Minister pointed out that the national rotary-wing capability must be generated. This means the creation of an economically operable, modern fleet which meets the challenges of the 21st century, being capable of carrying out tasks related to territorial defence and allied commitments, disaster management, counter-terrorism, air policing and other tasks of the national economy. The parliamentary parties gratefully approved the long-running preparations for the meeting, and the schedule for generating the national rotary-wing capability. On this basis, a team of MoD experts will examine the needs of Hungary and the Hungarian Defence Forces in order to formulate the statements of requirements by this autumn, then it will prepare a tender meeting all these requirements. The Ministry will put forward the latter to the parliamentary parties at the next four-party consultation, and then it will launch an EU public procurement procedure by the relevant laws. Potential bidders are required to hand in their proposals before next year’s parliamentary elections, so that the new government can make a virtually immediate decision about the procurement by a legal deadline.

Answering a question, Minister Hende said that the Ministry of Defence adopts a complex perspective on generating the rotary-wing capability and on making the necessary capabilities available by operating the existing aircraft in the period until its creation. The number of aircraft to be upgraded and the extent of the upgrade will ensure the availability of necessary capabilities and Hungary’s security fort he period until the new and modern helicopters have entered service. “The Ministry of Defence will take the most cost-effective course of action regarding the limited life-cycle extension of the helicopters currently in our possession" – the Minister pointed out. The planned overhauls will be carried out with the greatest transparency possible and with full public control, by accepting the cheapest available proposal in an open public procurement procedure.

Photos: Mária Krasznai-Nehrebeczky and archive