Hungary’s Defense Ministry earmarks 324 million euros for renovations, upgrades

The Defense Ministry plans to spend 100 billion forints (EUR 324m) this year on upgrading barracks and equipment, the daily Magyar Idők said on Wednesday. 

Among the biggest procurements is the purchase of two used Airbus A319 aircraft which the armed forces will use for troop transport and evacuations.

More than 20 billion forints will be used to overhaul 12 Mi-24 helicopter gunships and one Mi-17 transport helicopter in Russia. The delivery systems of Hungary’s Gripen fighter jets are also set for an upgrade.

Fully 11 billion forints has been earmarked for the renovation of barracks in Hódmezővásárhely, Tata and Szolnok.

Expenditures in the medium term include 20 billion forints for bazookas up to 2026, 10 billion for artillery in 2017-2019 and 10 billion for radars in 2018-2023.

Hungary’s government aims to raise the annual defence budget, which currently amount to 428 billion forints, to NATO’s target of 2 percent of GDP by 2024.

As we wrote before, a new multifuntional Hungarian developed bus has been unveiled in Ikarus’ Székesfehérvár plant. Minister of Defence István Simicskó annunced that the Hungarian Defense Forces buy one hundred of them.

Photo: honvedelem.hu

Source: MTI