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HUNGARIAN GRIPEN

OPERATIONAL AND PREPARED FOR DUTY

In December 2008 the Hungarian Air Force declared Gripen operational for Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) missions over Hungarian territory and airspace. Gripen is sharing this armed standby protection duty with Hungary’s remaining MiG-29 fighters.

The Hungarian Air Force announced the assignment of QRA responsibilities to Gripen during a ceremony at the Kecskemét air force base on 22 December 2008. Representatives from the Hungarian Government and the Hungarian Air Force were present at the ceremony.

The first scramble

Later that day, two Gripen fighters scrambled from the Kecskemét air force base to provide armed standby protection for the first time. Today, Gripen has completed numerous successful missions and has proved to be everything Hungary expected.

Gripen over Hungary

Image: Gripen over Hungary. Photo: Lászlo Tóth

“Implementation of the Gripen system to the Hungarian Air Force has secured our ability to defend our borders and to carry out our assignments in NATO. We are proud to have one of the most advanced combat aircraft in the world in our air force. It has proven to be reliable, sustain mission efficiency and perform with low life cycle costs just as promised. Gripen really does exceed our expectations and we look forward to sustaining Gripen for the next 30 years ahead according to existing plans.”
//Lieutenant General, Former Commander Joint Force Command, Hungarian Army Air Force

Proven in international exercises

Hungary is the third European nation to operate Gripen after Sweden and the Czech Republic, and the second NATO nation. The last of the 14 Gripen fighters were formally handed over to Hungary on 28 January 2008. Since the delivery of the first Gripen to Hungary in 2006 the aircraft have undergone a number of major developments. The Hungarian Air Force has also used its Gripen fighters both in Hungary and during international exercises, for example:

Exercise “Spring Flag 2007”

Under Italian leadership and a United Nations mandate to provide 'Peace Support Operations' in a simulated conflict between two countries, more than 50 fighter aircraft from four NATO members deployed to Decimomannu air base on Sardinia.

'Spring Flag' is the Italian Air Force's main annual exercise. A multi-national day and night exercise with the objective of training personnel to prepare for complex or Composite Air Operations (COMAO) and Tactical Air Support Maritime Operations (TASMO). A number of foreign air forces are invited each year.

'Spring Flag 2007' (SF07) started on May 7 with the arrival of aircraft at the AMI airbase at Decimomannu on Sardinia. Adding to a full range of Italian forces were fighter aircraft from Turkey, Hungary and Germany.

Four Hungarian Gripen and five pilots plus support staff attended 'Spring Flag'. They were tasked with Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Opposing Forces (OPFOR) operations or 'red air' during the exercise. As with the Turkish contingent they were attending 'Spring Flag' for the first time.

The Hungarian unit flew as part of the hostile ‘Red Force’, largely conducting beyond visual range air battles with the ‘Blue Force’. Hungarian Air Force Colonel Nandor Kilian said, “Our weapons and tactics were limited by Red Force rules, and in an exercise like this the Red Force is always supposed to die, but even without our AMRAAMs and data links we eight or ten kills, including a Typhoon. Often we had no AWACS or radar support of any kind, just our regular onboard sensors – but flying like that, ‘free hunting’, we got three kills in one afternoon. It was a pretty good experience for our first time out.”

NATO Tiger Meet 2009

The 45th edition of the NATO Tiger Meet was held in Belgium at Kleine Brogel Airbase in September 2009. More than a simple meeting bringing the NATO tiger squadrons together, over the years it has become a major exercise in central Europe. Each day the participants fly simple missions as well as COMAO massive exercises.

The main goal of this annual meeting is to promote cooperation between the air forces, create a better understanding of NATO military objectives, and to develop unit interoperability. In 2009, the Hungarian Air Force (HUNAF) was present for the first time as an observer. In the coming years HUNAF will become a member.  

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