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Orbán cabinet to produce export in the new Hungarian military factories
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A few years ago, the Orbán government embarked on a major military build-up, but they also started to develop the domestic defence industry. Two defence factories are already in operation and four are in the construction or planning phase. The priority is for the Hungarian military factories being built to produce for export as well as to meet domestic needs.
According to Telex.hu, the military industry has not received much attention in recent decades, given that obsolete Soviet-era equipment still makes up the bulk of the equipment even now. The government invested little money and energy in developing the army, and the domestic military industry almost disappeared. The only major player left was the Sirok ammunition factory, which produced small calibre handguns. However, even that is now owned by a foreign company.
Domestic defence industry – thousands of billions of forints
Recently, the government decided to improve the domestic defence industry and to purchase weapons worth thousands of billions of forints. The government will be assisted in the construction by a German company, Rheinmetall, which has a long and respected track record among European defence companies. The majority owner is the German arms manufacturer, which owns 51 percent of the joint venture.
Of the six new Hungarian military factories, Rheinmetall will be involved in the construction and operation of the next four: a munitions and explosives plant will be built in Várpalota, where production is expected to start in the second half of 2024. A radar manufacturing plant is being built in Nyírtelek, where assembly will take place from 2025.
In Kaposvár, the production of a four-wheel-drive armoured vehicle with mine protection will take place in the near future. There is talk of extending Turkish-Hungarian cooperation in Kaposvár to the production of drones and other autonomous flying devices. A plant for the production of infantry fighting vehicles has been built in Zalaegerszerg, where the test track for combat vehicles is located. Here, the test run took place in the second half of 2022, with series production starting in 2023.
