Major General Zoltán Somogyi
15:53 July 18, 2023Brigadier General Zoltán Somogyi was born on 27th February 1974 in Fehérgyarmat. He began his military service in August 1992 at the Military Command Collage in Szentendre. He graduated as an artillery officer with a BSc in Land Surveying Engineering in 1996. He served 8 years in a various artillery officer assignments including 4 years as Battery Commander within the HDF 5th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 5th Self Propelled Artillery Battalion in Debrecen. During his artillery officer carrier, he successfully completed the Battery Commander Course of the German Bundeswehr and gathered experiences also in the field of rocket artillery. In 2003 he was deployed to the position of the 2nd Company Commander of the Hungarian Guard and Security Battalion, KFOR Kosovo and in 2004 he assumed command of the Hungarian Guard and Security Contingent, KFOR Skopje.
In 2007, he was appointed to the position of Hungarian Joint Force Command J3 Staff Officer in Székesfehérvár and he was promoted to Major. In 2009, he was assigned as a Liaison Officer to the German Operations Command in Potsdam and to the German MOD Planning Staff in Berlin focused on Hungarian contribution to ISAF operation. In 2010, he graduated from the National Defense University with MSc degree in Military Leadership. In 2012 he graduated the 7th German National Joint Admiral and General Staff Course at the Bundeswehr Command & Staff Collage in Hamburg. Following that, he was appointed to the position of the Military Assistant to the Chief of Land Forces of the Hungarian Joint Force Command and he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. From 2013 to 2016, he served as the Head of Combat Support Branch G3 HDF JFC.
During this assignment in 2013-2014 he was deployed for seven months to Afghanistan as a senior advisor and head of a brigade level advisory team. In 2016, he was assigned to the position of Chief G37 HDF Joint Force Command. In 2017, his next appointment was at HDF JFC where he held the post of Chief J3/ACOS Operations and was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
From August 2018 he started and led the planning project of Headquarters Multinational Division Centre. He was appointed to Chief of Staff of the Headquarters Multinational Division Centre on 01 June 2020 and he was promoted to his current rank on the 20th of August 2020.
12 May 2022 – 17 May 2023 he served as Chief of Staff of EUFOR Force HQ in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since 15 July 2023 he has been assuming the position Director of the General Staff Hungarian Defence Forces.
He is married to his wife Beatrix and lives in Várpalota.
A network of relations taking shape
15:30 November 11, 2025
The members of the Budapest Military Attaché Corps recently paid a visit to the HDF 2nd ISR Regiment and the Kratochvil Károly Honvéd Secondary School in Debrecen. They showed especially great interest in the army scouts’ new military equipment and the system of Hungarian defence education.
Stronger Lebanese-Hungarian Partnership
14:26 November 11, 2025
Lebanon’s security has crucial significance from the perspective of the security of the Middle East as a whole. The security of the Middle East is essential to the Hungarians, too, because through illegal migration and terrorism, such threats are posed to both Hungary and Europe that must be dealt with by all means, emphasized Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky after the first day of his visit to Lebanon in a video uploaded to his social media page.
Big Breakthrough
12:44 November 11, 2025
The International Live Fire Tactical Exercise Breakthrough 2025 has started. The training event is taking place in the Central Shooting Range and Training Area, and will end on 23 November. The objective is to allow tankers and artillerymen of the HDF 1st Armored Brigade to exercise operational planning while being augmented with foreign subunits in a combined-arms environment under real-world circumstances.
They are Able and Prepared
12:07 November 11, 2025
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and MoD Parliamentary State Secretary Deputy Defence Minister Tamás Vargha recently paid a visit to Hungarian servicemembers serving in the Baltics. During their visit to the Hungarian Defence Forces Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Detachment of the Baltic Air Policing (BAP) Mission, the minister acknowledged with satisfaction that the Hungarian airmen have demonstrated their ability, professional preparedness and dedication already on the fourth occasion, which earns good reputation for Hungary and the Hungarian Defence Forces within NATO.
“Everybody can think independently, but we must be able to work in harmony”
16:18 November 10, 2025
Interoperability, honesty, risk-taking – this was how Deputy Chief of Defence (Territorial Defence) Lieutenant General Zoltán Mihócza summed up the most important keywords of the NATO Industry Forum 2025 that took place last week. The general emphasized that speeding up acquisitions is currently one of the most important goals of the Alliance.
“We also discussed the procurement of HIMARS rockets in Washington”
13:12 November 10, 2025
Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky also discussed the purchase of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and rockets at the Pentagon, as he himself announced on Saturday, 8 November in an interview to public media, adding that the purchase may be considered to be made over a three-to-five-year period, following authorization by the U.S. Congress.
A new chapter begins in U.S.–Hungary defence cooperation
13:09 November 10, 2025
The strengthening Hungarian–American political relations provide a good framework for the development of defence and military cooperation between the two countries and opens the door to further investments in the field of defence industry – stated Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in Washington, where he had discussions with U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy and Cooperation Elbridge A. Colby on Friday, 7 November.
KC-390: comprehensive inspection in Brazil
11:16 November 10, 2025
There are many interesting details about the first medium-size military transport aircraft developed in full compliance with 21st century requirements, the KC-390 produced by Brazilian company Embraer. Hungary has purchased two planes, of which the second is scheduled to be delivered to the Kecskemét-based HDF 101st Aviation Wing in late November.
From Székesfehérvár to SHAPE – Hungarian subunit at NATO’s digital cutting edge
16:00 November 7, 2025
The Communications and Information Systems (CIS) of the future were introduced on the Distinguished Visitors (DV) Day of Exercise Steadfast Cobalt 2025 at the at the NATO SHAPE HQ in Belgium, where the soldiers of the Hungarian Defence Forces’ Deployable CIS Module (DCM-E) also had an outstanding role. Their excellent performance at the exercise may serve as an example of how a small but dedicated team can contribute to shaping the digital future of the Alliance.
Serbian and Hungarian Metrology Professionals Share Lessons Learned
14:05 November 7, 2025
The 1st Serbian-Hungarian Metrology Meeting was recently held in Hungary. At the two-day event, Serbian professionals were received at the Kecskemét-based base command of the HDF Material Supply Store Base (MSSB) and the Táborfalva base of the HDF MSSB Test Firing and Examination Department.