International visitors’ group in Kecskemét and Tata

Under the provisions of the Vienna Document 2011 on Confidence and Security Building Measures (CSBMs), during a common schedule of five-year periods, each participating state will arrange a visit to an air base operating combat aircraft and to a military facility; moreover, it will also organize the demonstration of its new types of weapon and equipment systems when it deploys the systems concerned for the first time in the zone of application for CSBMs.

On Tuesday, 10 October, Major Istvanovics Várdai Mihail, a senior officer of the HDF General Staff Operations Directorate Arms Control Sub-directorate told us in answer to our question that “a total of 54 representatives from 28 states and two partner organizations accepted our invitation. The participants had the opportunity to learn about the structure of the Kecskemét airbase, and its daily training activities”.

While in Kecskemét, the visitors were provided with the opportunity to view – among other things – the Gripen hangar and the JAS 39 fighter aircraft, as well as the aid post and the enlisted airmen’s quarters. They also visited the aviation museum, and viewed the simulated task of grounding a “Defector” aircraft.

On Wednesday, 11 October the foreign delegation visited the HDF 1st Armored Brigade in Tata. Here, Colonel Zoltán Pozderka, Chief of Staff, HDF Land Component Command held a lecture on the land forces, and then Brigade Commander Colonel István Tóth introduced the guests to the everyday activities of the unit. In what followed, during a tour of the barracks, they were shown the hangar where the unit stores the Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks, and subsequently they were also introduced to the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer simulators in the Cupola.

During the rest of the day, they saw a static display on the parade ground and a dynamic one on the Szomód shooting range. At the end of their program, they could see and hear a dynamic demonstration of a KF41 Lynx infantry fighting vehicle and a live fire exercise conducted with two Gidrán armored tactical vehicles.

“During the visit, the international delegation received a comprehensive picture of Hungary’s security and defence policy, the Hungarian Defence Forces, including the Hungarian air force and land forces as well”, said Major Várdai in summarizing the two-day program, adding that the members of the visitors’ group had been fully satisfied with what they saw.