Mod considers several creative options to improve the Hungarian air force’s air transport capability
The ministry of defense plans to buy three commercial aircraft in the first phase to expand the air force’s transport and air evacuation capability learned mno.hu.
The Hungarian government will stick with its current policy to station no more than one thousand troops in foreign missions to support its NATO allies. To be able to adequately service the troops the ministry must improve the air force’s transport capability; one option to achieve that goal would be to obtain Boeing 737 or Airbus 320 commercial aircraft.
This choice would nicely fit in Defense Minister Istvan Simicskó’s recently announced modernization program under the Zrínyi 2026 initiative aiming to boost the Hungarian military defense capabilities.
The air force currently using An-26 light transport aircraft that are over forty years old and are unable to serve several hundred troops currently stationed in Afghanistan and Kurdistan; after the liquidation of Malév, the Hungarian national airline the country has left without national air evacuation capability as well.
Both those commercial aircraft can be modified with minimum effort to fulfill the air force’s transport needs and they can be converted into suitable military transport aircraft capable of carrying hundreds of troops and light armory. Both Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 commercial aircraft maximum total range makes them suitable to transport troops in the whole of Europe, Central Asia, and much of Africa without landing.
Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 aircraft are the world’s two most popular commercial airplanes. 10-15 year-old models can be purchased for a fraction of the price of military transport aircraft.
Opting for this creative solution, the ministry of defense can save lots of money that can be invested into improving the armed forces’ defense, and logistical capabilities without cutting funding for those much needed developments as well writes mno.hu.
Another big advantage of deploying these aircraft is that there is no need to develop a special infrastructure and to train ground support technicians to service the airplanes because these particular models can be serviced practically anywhere in the world.
translated by hungarianambiance.com
Source: MNO/hungarianambiance.com
