Hungary builds up its military capabilities

Hungary plans to increase defense spending in the 2024 budget because it expects the war in Ukraine to drag on.

Mihai Varga, Minister of Finance of Hungary, stated this at the briefing.

According to him, the war in Ukraine would not end soon and would continue in 2024.

The minister noted that the consequences of this confrontation will affect Hungary as well.

Hungary is expected to spend more than HUF 1,300 billion (about $3.76 billion) on defense next year.

Armored forces

Currently, the Armed Forces of Hungary are actively modernizing their army and switching to Western-style armored vehicles.

Hungarian forces have received a company of 12 Leopard 2A4 tanks, which will be used to train crews and technicians, as the country makes efforts to switch its main battle tank fleet from the T-72 to the Leopard 2.

The initial 12 Leopard 2A4 tanks will launch a transition from the T-72 to the more advanced Leopard 2A7HU, which will start arriving in 2023. According to the contracts, the Hungarian army should receive 44 new Leopard 2 main battle tanks of the latest A7+ version, as well as 12 Leopard-2A4 tanks.

The Hungarians are also ordering support vehicles such as armored recovery vehicles and Leopard 2-based armored bridge laying systems.

Another challenge relates to the nation’s infrastructure: roads and bridges may need to be upgraded to support the weight of new vehicles on the road.

The military ranges also need to be upgraded to accommodate the challenging training environment, and it is desirable to have a local stockpile of 120mm ammunition for the Leopard 2.

As previously reported, in October 2022, the Armed Forces of Hungary received the first mass-produced KF41 Lynx armored fighting vehicle and Buffalo armored recovery vehicle by the German Rheinmetall. Also in 2022, the first German 155 mm PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers were delivered to the location of the 25th Infantry Brigade of Hungary.