Another deployment: The Hungarian Defence Forces extinguish fires in Bulgaria as well

In a mere 20 hours after a request from the Emergency Response Coordination Centre, a H225M helicopter of the Hungarian Defence Forces took off for Bulgaria – the system is running completely smoothly, and the procedures make it possible to obtain the necessary permits and assemble the personnel in the shortest time possible so they can start the mission. The Hungarian airmen set off from Szolnok aboard the H225M helicopter with side number 75 on Sunday.

Of the foreign units helping Bulgaria, the Hungarian one was the first to arrive at Plovdiv airport, where President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev received the contingent made up of three aircrew members, three ground crew members and a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC). The intensive firefighting that also involved redeployments lasted from Monday to Wednesday, as due to the heavy rain, the helicopters did not take off on Thursday morning. They were still on standby in the morning, and then in the afternoon, in the presence of Bulgarian Minister of the Interior Daniel Mitov, their mission was ceremonially closed at Plovdiv airport, with the minister saying thanks to the foreign units, among them the Hungarian contingent, for their invaluable assistance.

The H225M helicopter fleet of the Hungarian Defence Forces got completed in mid-July with the arrival of the last two rotorcraft. Since then, the helicopters of this type already in service have assumed a significant role in two missions abroad, fighting wildfires first in Albania in the second half of July and now in Bulgaria. Through their modern multirole helicopters, well-prepared airmen and aircraft maintenance technicians, the Hungarian Defence Forces have demonstrated again that there are active and key actors in serious international tasks.