The Lion Prepares to Jump…

As a NATO member state, Hungary assumes a role in out-of-area peace operations, which in some cases are conducted at distances of several thousand kilometers. These operations are among the core missions of the Hungarian Defence Forces. In order to be able to cover large geographical distances, it is necessary to use strategic airlift capacities. Heavy transport aircraft are the state-of-the-art equipment for such transportation missions.

To airlift military assets and materiel, the Hungarian Defence Forces use, among others, the An–124 Ruslan heavy-lift transport aircraft. (“Ruslan" is a Russian male name of Turkish origin, which translates as “lion".)

Airlift missions flown between Hungary and the Afghanistan theatre of war have outstanding significance among the core functions of the National Support Element serving in Afghanistan. In the first half of June, the 9th rotation of the National Support Element carried out its first airlift mission, which was the first real-world test of the rotation which had arrived in the area of operations shortly before.

The mission was to airlift 87 tons of military equipment – technical assets – back to Hungary. The materiel filled seven containers. The trucks rolled into the aircraft’s cargo hold “on their own feet".

The logisticians did their best during the preparations and the execution of the mission. They were working at full stretch under extreme weather conditions to assemble the cargo to be transported back to Hungary. Overcoming the difficulties, they have done a precise job. Thanks to their friendly and helping cooperation with the German logistic forces and the support received from them, they managed to prepare the cargo for the airlift by the deadline.

Their work was crowned with loading the cargo into the An–124 aircraft. The team had a fascinating and extraordinary experience of working in the giant airplane and its environment. When at dawn – at 04:10 sharp – the Ruslan took off from the tarmac of the aerodrome, roaring like a majestic beast in the rising sun, the soldiers felt satisfaction after the successful job well done.

Photos: NSE–9