Operation and training with a new German-Hungarian joint venture
Text: defence.hu/MTI | Photo: László Kertész and Tamás Kovács (archive) | 13:01 February 21, 2025From now on, Leopard Hungary MRO Ltd, a new German-Hungarian joint venture with Hungarian majority holding is responsible for the operation of the Hungarian Defence Forces artillery and armor fleet and the training of Hungarian experts – the Hungarian managing director of the company in Munich told Hungarian news agency MTI on Thursday, 20 February, following the signing of the company’s founding document.
Managing Director Márton Kertész told MTI by phone that the reason why German-French-founded KNDS arms and tank manufacturing group and the Hungarian MoD Currus Ltd founded the joint venture as a result of a series of negotiations started in December 2023 was to permanently enable the Hungarian side in a few years to maintain and operate the recently procured, 90-item KNDS fleet consisting of tanks, self-propelled guns and engineering vehicles.
The German side will provide the necessary know-how and knowledge transfer, while the Hungarian side, namely MoD Currus Ltd, its 50-year-long maintenance and operation experience gained in Hungary, as well as the experts, who will carry out their tasks at the Tata-based HDF 1st Armored Brigade, the home station of the military equipment and on the premises of MoD Currus Ltd in Gödöllő.
The managing director added that the German experts have already been present in Hungary so far as well, as the purchase of the fleet comprises the provision of a two-year maintenance service; however, as soon as this service expires for the different items of equipment, the continuously trained Hungarian experts will take over this activity step by step, thus ensuring the sustained deployability of the assets that is of strategic importance, up-to-date, undisturbed, long-term, and is in accordance with the repair public procurement calls issued by the Hungarian Defence Forces.
Speaking about the technical details, the managing director said that the Hungarian Defence Forces have good experiences with the Leopard 2A7s, which form a core part of the fleet and are currently known to be the most modern tanks in the world, because their failure rate is slight in itself; however, these tanks must be supplied with spare parts and software updates in accordance with the servicing required in parallel with their use.
Besides the Hungarian and German managing directors of the company – namely, Márton Kertész and Hubert Dassinger – the founding document of the new joint venture Leopard Hungary MRO Ltd was also signed by MoD Currus Ltd CEO Lieutenant General Attila Géza Takács and Ralf Ketzel, Managing Director, KNDS Beteiligungs GmbH.
