In the Lead Nation Role on Exercise Safety Fuel 2026

Text: Captain Melinda Hoványi-Pap | Photo: by the author | 16:52 June 24, 2026

Exercise Safety Fuel 2026 was planned and directed under Hungarian lead. This year, the main focus of the activities was on fielding the joint Bulk Fuel Installations (BFI) and on the complex tasks relating to them.

Within the framework of the Safety Fuel project, fuel management exercises have regularly been held with the participation of German and Hungarian soldiers for 14 years now. This year’s venue was Putlos in Germany. The exercise allowed the participants to enroll on a BFI commander course, where they had the opportunity to demonstrate their acquired knowledge, decision-making and response capacity while operating a fuel supply system.

The June exercise was special because for the first time in its history, the Hungarians carried out the preliminary planning tasks of the exercise and directed its entire conduct as lead nation at the international fuel training base of the German partner unit ‒ which has been playing a key role in the professional preparation of the Hungarian personnel for many years.

The Hungarian participation involved the organizations in the subordination of the Hungarian Defence Forces Logistic Support Command, i.e. the HDF Material Supply Depot, the HDF Szentendre Garrison Support Command and the HDF 2nd Sustainment Regiment, while the Germany was represented by the personnel of the Bundeswehr’s Husum-based 164th Special Pioneer Regiment.

Besides the Hungarian and the German fuel management personnel, Croatian observers also joined the training event, thereby strengthening multinational cooperation and the development of joint NATO capabilities.

During the period of more than three weeks, the participants complemented the fielding tasks with the repair, maintenance and full disassembly works of the existing BFIs with a fuel holding capacity of several million liters. These activities required high professional standards, coordinated work and continuous safety discipline of the cooperating nations during the fuel supply operations.

Colonel Zoltán Kiss, Deputy Commander, HDF Logistic Support Command and Colonel Pál Róbert Kovács, Deputy Commander, HDF Material Supply Depot both spoke highly of the coordinated, high-level work of the Hungarian and German personnel, and presented recognitions to the German and Hungarian soldiers on the spot.

Exercise Safety Fuel 2026 provided valuable lessons learned to the development of the Hungarian and German partner nation fuel supply capabilities, and extensively contributed to successfully achieving next year’s recertification of NATO Full Operational Capability (FOC).