Hungarian Gripens investigate suspicious radar contacts

Hungarian Gripen fighter planes were scrambled twice on Friday to investigate suspicious radar contacts but found no trace of any flying objects, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has said.

The Hungarian Armed Forces detected an object flying over Hungarian airspace from the direction of Ukraine in the early hours of Friday, which later turned out to be a drone that crashed in Zagreb, the foreign ministry cited Szijjártó as saying.

Multiple NATO member states, including Hungary, Romania and Croatia were affected by the incident, Szijjártó said, adding that the authorities were investigating it in cooperation with Hungary’s allies.

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Around noon on Friday, Hungary’s air force detected radar signals in the northeast that were similar to the ones seen during the night, Szijjártó said.

Gripen fighters were scrambled from the base in Kecskemét, in central Hungary, to inspect the area where the object was detected but found no sign of any flying objects, he said.