An agreement has been reached with the Swedish defence minister on the joint development of the Gripen fighter jet, Defence Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky said on Wednesday.
“Today, we had talks with the Swedish defence minister in Stockholm, and we signed an agreement we could call historic: we will work together on developing the Gripens, and on many other important bilateral issues,” he said in a video on Facebook. “The Gripens that are coming from Sweden are an iconic multifunctional combat aircraft of the Hungarian Air Forces, a defining force of Hungarian defence,” the minister said.
“Swedish-Hungarian ties, especially since Sweden’s NATO accession, have been elevated to a strategic level,” he said.
Despite opposing views on issues such as the war in Ukraine, “we have conducted a valuable and honest discussion,” Szalay-Bobrovniczky said.
In a Facebook post, the Hungarian defence minister called Hungary “the guardian of airspaces”. That is because Hungarian Gripen fighters protect the airspace of some neighbouring countries and the Baltic states.
Read also:
- Czechs: a fleet of outdated aircraft safeguards Hungary’s airspace
- How can Sweden join NATO? Orbán seals a massive arms and military industry deal
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2 Comments
“After we kept Sweden sweating regarding NATO accession, holding out to the very last, they are now our strategic partners!”
Lovely transactional bunch, our Politicians. I am sure the Swedes have forgotten all about it.
Bit of detail regarding our Guardians of Airspaces (all 14 of them, plus 4 in due time):
“The Swedish Air Force operates 74 JAS 39Cs, 24 Ds and 3 Es, ordered 60 Es as of 2016 with 10 more aircraft planned to be ordered. It originally ordered 204 aircraft, including 28 two-seaters. Sweden leases (LEASES – my caps) 28 to the Czech and Hungarian Air Forces.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_JAS_39_Gripen
If anything, methinks the Baltics would rather rely on Swedish air power. For context re numbers: Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with more than 60 (sixty) F16s … If anything goes wrong in Hungary, I guess it is all of NATOs help we will need.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293688/nato-aircraft-strength-country/ – the usual challenge: find Hungary on the chart
For context: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293754/nato-aircraft-strength-type/
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Who are Hungarian Gripen jets protecting neighbouring countries and Baltic states from? This is the ongoing mystery of the Hungarian defence department. They never name who it is that is the threat because they are forbidden from saying it. It starts with an “R” but despite being a defence minister in a NATO country that name will never pass through Szalay-Bobrovnicky lips. Ask yourself why.