Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky: Baltic countries can count on the Hungarian Air Force

Hungary is committed to fulfilling its obligations undertaken in NATO, as 2026 will be the fourth consecutive year when our country’s defence budget is to exceed 2 per cent of the GDP – said the minister of defence, who emphasized that the four aircraft of the Hungarian Defence Forces and the some 80-strong personnel operating them will be serving with the NATO mission in the Baltics for four months. This means that the development of the national armed forces is going forward on stable legs, and that Hungary completely fulfils its obligations undertaken in NATO – he added.

The minister noted that in 2026, another four Gripens will join the 14 Gripen fighter jets of the air force currently in service. He called attention to the fact that its allies also consider Hungary a stable and reliable partner, as it is already the fourth time that the three Baltic states entrust the Hungarian Air Force with the responsibility of safeguarding their airspace – in a delicate situation when they expressly feel to be threatened due to historical reasons and the border with Russia. He also mentioned that this mission provides the Hungarian Air Force with a special opportunity to practice and develop its capabilities.

“Peace requires strength” – said Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, and thanked the Polish and Romanian partners. He also said thanks to Lithuania for providing the conditions required for operating the aircraft. Within the BAP framework, NATO member states protect the airspace of Baltic states in four-month rotations. This is necessary because the Baltic states do not have any fighter jets of their own. After 2015, 2019 and 2022, now is the fourth occasion when the Hungarian Air Force is serving in the Baltics.

The Hungarian detachment carries out Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) service. This means that in the event of detecting an unidentified aircraft, a two-ship element of fighters are to be airborne in combat ready state within 15 minutes. The BAP operated on a single base until 2014, the year when Russia occupied the Crimea, and since then, NATO fighter aircraft with air policing duties in the Baltic airspace have been stationed on three bases – besides Siauliai, another one in Lithuania and one in Estonia. On the latter airbase, the Italian air force has rotated the Portuguese fighter jets serving there so far.

Typically, Alpha scrambles are triggered by Russian planes, fighter jets, military transport aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft flying unidentified in international airspace near the Baltic region. This means that they either have not filed a flight plan, or do not communicate by radio with Air Traffic Control, or fly without using their onboard transponders. In these cases, the aircraft has to be identified visually by the fighter jet pilots.

Last time when the Hungarian Air Force carried out air policing duties in the Baltic airspace between September and December 2022, the detachment flew more than 300 hours and the Gripens flown by Hungarian pilots reacted to more than 60 Tango (practice) and close to 20 Alpha (live) scrambles. The Hungarian delegation was received by Loreta Maskalioviené, Deputy Defence Minister of Lithuania for Procurements and Defence Industry.