PHOTOS: Hungary gets brand-new military choppers, troops prepare for Chad mission amid French withdrawal

New Airbus H225M military choppers arrived in Hungary on Tuesday. The new helicopters will be used by the Hungarian Defence Forces. Meanwhile, Chad decided to end military cooperation with France. As a result, French soldiers are to return home soon. However, the Chad-Hungary agreement about sending a contingent of Hungarian soldiers to the Sahel area country remains in effect. Thus, the Hungarian military may depart to the African country soon.

According to portfolio.hu, new Airbus H225M military choppers arrived in Hungary to be used by the Hungarian Defence Forces. The main area of use of this type is the transportation of soldiers, but it is also used as a search and rescue aircraft.

Photo: FB/Hungarian Defence Forces

The Hungarian Defence Forces ordered two versions from the French company. One is equipped with missiles (70 mm Hydra missiles and Spike precision-guided surface-to-air missiles), while the other is not since the Hungarian Defence Forces would only like to use it for transport duties. Thanks to the two new choppers, the Airbus H225M fleet of the Hungarian military grew to 12. In 2025, Hungary will receive another four aircraft. Therefore, the fleet will become complete with 16 helicopters.

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Chad sends home the French, welcomes Hungarian troops

It sounded odd at first when the Hungarian prime minister’s spokesperson announced that Chad’s president, Mahamat Idriss Deby, would travel to Hungary and meet with PM Orbán in Budapest in September. Before, Hungarian media wrote about a possible Hungarian military mission to the unstable Sahel Area country. They added that one of the brokers of the deal was PM Viktor Orbán’s only son, Gáspár Orbán, who travelled to Chad multiple times.

Based on the official statements, the two leaders talked about stopping illegal migration, fighting against international terrorism, and possibilities in mutual training and operations. Later, the Hungarian defence minister highlighted that Chad and Hungary signed an anti-terrorism cooperation. The two countries also signed a strategic partnership agreement.

We wrote before that in November, the Hungarian Parliament passed a law that allowed the Orbán cabinet to make decisions about sending troops abroad without needing approval from Parliament, even skipping public debate in certain cases.

200 Hungarian troops may replace 1,000 French soldiers

The Hungarian Parliament authorised the government to send 200 Hungarian troops to Chad last November. Then, news emerged about sending the contingent to the African country this spring, but nothing happened.

France24.com wrote that Chad was ending the military cooperation agreement with France. Despite hosting more than 1,000 French soldiers, they decided to send them home even though the document did not specify a date. Chad is the last foothold of France in the region. Before, President Deby relied on French military support e.g. against Boko Haram and other active militant groups. However, now he seeks closer ties with Moscow, and it seems Hungary is joining that group of countries.

Telex.hu wrote that the agreement about sending 200 Hungarian troops to Chad is still in effect; however, nobody knows when the contingent will be deployed to the African country. Experts could not tell what the reason for such a mission could be. VSquare acquired information that Gáspár Orbán, the prime minister’s only son, would have liked to create a Hungarian military intelligence centre in Chad.

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