Country Defence Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025 Ends with Success

The minister highlighted that the organization of the exercise was a historic step, as over the last 30 years there were no means, equipment, capability and intention to conduct such a complex exercise which involved every unit and branch of the armed forces as well as almost all organizations in the system of public administration.

Adaptive Hussars was a NATO-framed exercise, since besides the strong and well-prepared armed forces, the guarantee of Hungary’s security is NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, so it is important that we can practice cooperation in peacetime, too – stated the minister of defence.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that the objective of the exercise had been to “check” the development of the armed forces that had begun in 2015-2016, and to test the capacities of and cooperation with the defence industry. He went on saying that at the same time, in practice the most important are the Hungarian soldiers, the men who planned, directed, executed task and attested to their knowledge, realized their mistakes and successfully passed the exam.

The minister pointed out that the last one and a half decades were about how Hungary can become stronger in terms of its economy, international relations and society, and the Hungarian Defence Forces, a “segment providing strength for peace” are an important part of that. In connection with this, he noted that these days the HDF are experiencing an almost revolutionary renewal, but it is not enough to get hold of the new items of military equipment, we are also required to “shape the armed forces to them”.

During the one-and-a-half-month exercise, the Hungarian Defence Forces carried out military transports along 48,000 kilometers. The helicopters flew 563 hours and covered 112,000 kilometers. The exercise provided logistic services for 7,000-15,000 troops per day, and altogether some 900,000 rations to cater for the participants, the minister added.

The ENDEX is to be followed by the identification and analysis of lessons learned, which is at least as important as the conduct of the exercise, which has also shown the length of the road that is sill ahead of us: there is a need for the further expansion our pool of assets, infrastructure and knowledge, as well as for the development of cooperation among the Hungarian Defence Forces, the Ministry of Defence and the public administration – said the minister of defence.

General Dr. Gábor Böröndi, Chief of HDF Defence Staff said that the exercise has demonstrated that one can count on the Hungarian Defence Forces, and the armed forces development program of the last ten years has not been in vain. Moreover, it has also showed that military and civilian personnel are able to think and act together.

He added that the exercise has also made it clear that in cooperation with their NATO allies, Hungarian troops are able to react quickly, precisely and effectively, and operate even cutting-edge equipment in an integrated system.

General Böröndi emphasized that this exercise was not only a test of military capabilities but also a creed to the effect that Hungarian servicemember not only react to changes in the world but also shape it, and their achieved results are not a fleeting success but rather form the basis of the Hungarian Defence Forces of the future.