Military Attachés at the Armoured Brigade

The BMAC made a half-day visit to Tata, headed by the doyen of the organization, Austrian defence attaché Brigadier General Manfred Hanzl. Events and cultural programs introducing the functioning of the Hungarian Defence Forces are an integral part of the organization’s annual program. This time, the armoured brigade with its several new items of military equipment was to be introduced in Tata, where Colonel István Tóth received the delegation of more than 20 people.

In his opening presentation in the morning, the commander of the HDF 1st Armoured Brigade talked first about the history of the unit over the second half of the 20th century, then continued with its organizational structure and task system. He also covered their engagement in international missions, such as the Hungarian contingent in KFOR and their role in the Hungarian-led NATO Forward Land Force Battle Group (FLF BG) stationed in Hungary. Finally, he also mentioned the annual exercises, which are now carried out with the renewed, modernized equipment of the brigade.

Numerous land forces innovations of the Zrínyi Defence and Military Development Program can be found in Tata. Therefore, the armoured brigade is among the most internationally well-known units of the HDF. During the visit, the attaché corps – besides the 21st-century military equipment – also learned about the training system created in parallel with the rearmament covering several decades and different branches of the army.

The visitors were most interested in the Gidrán tactical vehicles, Leopard main battle tanks and the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers – manufactured based on the needs of the Hungarian Defence Forces –, which they saw after the small arms in service with the HDF and a tour in the modern simulation centre of the brigade.