Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky: Exercise ADHU 25 demonstrates the capability that the Hungarian Defence Forces have achieved

Speaking about the planned joint, whole-of-government defence exercise, which is organized within the framework of NATO, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that Adaptive Hussars 2025 is the largest-scale and most complex exercise since the 1989 regime change in Hungary.

According to the defence minister, around 22,000 troops – professional ones and reservists – are about to deploy at several points around Hungary to participate in a number of complex operations throughout six weeks.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky emphasized, on the one hand, the joint-force character of the exercise – the fact that the entire Hungarian Defence Forces are participating in it with all their units and most of their equipment – and on the other hand that it is to be conducted within a whole-of-government framework, since, if it were necessary to defend the country one day, the HDF should cooperate with the government and the system of public administration.

The defence minister also said that this exercise had been planned. The last decade was about the development of the Hungarian military, which has different phases, and the exercise is a kind of follow-up checking of this process.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky noted that Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025 is being organized within the framework of NATO, fitting in NATO’s command and control system and with the support of partner countries. Moreover, the exercise is going to assume a multinational character due to the participation of Slovak and American troops.

According to information received on the spot, the demonstration at Hajmáskér involved, with ground and air support, the unloading of Lynx infantry fighting vehicles from a train arriving from Hódmezővásárhely, and the simulation of an enemy drone attack.