Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky: combat vehicle maintenance, too, has outstanding significance

Before the handover, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky emphasized that we can only preserve our peace if we have regional weight and significance in the military sense as well. The Hungarian Defence Forces meet this condition, and their meeting it is important indeed.

The minister of defence added that several powers are interested in the extension of the war that has been raging in our neighborhood for already five years. The leaders of the European Union in Brussels have made a decision to support this war with money, weapons and, sooner or later, perhaps also with troops. In some weeks, there will be parliamentary elections in Hungary, and what is at stake is “no less than whether the elected government will make a stand either for the possibility of war or for keeping aloof from it and for peace” – said the minister.

“The Hungarians will decide which government they see fit for this – the one that has demonstrated its ability and intention to do this in the past few years, or another one that has neither the ability nor the intention to do so” – declared Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky.

According to a press release issued by the armored brigade, the staff of the repair workshop numbers 45 specialists, and the installation is suitable for the maintenance and repair of main parts, transmission systems, running gears, auxiliary devices as well as weapon systems.

There are seven complementary rooms inside the building, including stores of spare parts and tools as well as special repair spaces. Technical documentation, repair documentation and logistic coordination are administered in a separate office block.

Yearslong continuous development

Since 2021, modern assets have been continuously delivered to Tata within the framework of the National Defence and Military Development Program. The first PzH 2000HU self-propelled howitzers were commissioned with the HDF 1st Armored Brigade in 2022, and, having been completed by 2024, the fleet now consists of 24 combat vehicles.

The first Leopard 2A7HU rolled into the “György Klapka” barracks in 2023, whereas the last, 44th unit of one of the state-of-the-art tank types in the world arrived in December last year.

The combat vehicle pool of the armored brigade has also been expanded in recent years with Leguan 2HU bridge-layers and WiSENT 2HU Armored Engineering Vehicles (AEV). Between 2021 and 2024, altogether 48 Gidran tactical vehicles were delivered to Tata: 38 of these 4×4 multirole armored vehicles are used by the 1st Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion, whereas ten vehicles are in service with the 1st Infantry Battalion.

The new military equipment has brought training and educational capabilities to Tata as well. Inaugurated and renovated in October 2023, the Cupola building of the “György Klapka” barracks houses a modern training and simulation centre meeting 21st century tactical requirements. There are training rooms in the Cupola equipped with artillery reconnaissance and gun simulator, and there is another room to provide training with a digital fire control system, as well as simulators for training tank drivers, featuring the turret simulator of PzH 2000HU self-propelled howitzers and Leopard main battle tanks.

In 2023, within the framework of the recruitment campaign “Man to the Steel”, the Hungarian Defence Forces were awaiting applicants for the job of PzH 2000HU operators. As a result of a successful recruitment campaign, the personnel that have started operating the PzHs are dedicated to their job and trained for the new technology.