Rearranging power relations, transforming warfare

Organized in Bálna Defence Centre, the conference and professional display is one of the most significant meetings of this industrial branch in Central Europe. It is aimed at sharing knowledge, strengthening strategic cooperation and developing new partnerships – in a period when security policy and geopolitical challenges expressly urge the development of the industrial branch.

One of the greatest values of the Space & Defense Festival is its diversity: more than 70 performers went on stage in a single day, nearly half of them coming from abroad. On behalf of the Hungarian Defence Forces, Chief of Defence General Dr. Gábor Böröndi held a lecture focusing on the 21st century adaptation of the Hungarian military.

“The nature of war is constant, but its character is continuously changing. Seeing the Russo-Ukrainian War and the conflicts in the Middle East, we experience novelties year after year. For example, today the entire theatre of war is already sensor-based. Warfare is characterized by drones and counter-drone methods. The era of the great powers’ cooperation is over, and a ruthless competition has evolved. Accordingly, the power relations are rearranging. We must react to the transformation of warfare and the changing security situation” – said the general in presenting the core thesis of his lecture, and then went on outlining the most important development projects in the past few years.

“The cyber capability of the Hungarian Defence Forces is continuously improving. Space warfare has appeared, autonomous systems are being developed, among them airspace surveillance and control and air defence. The development of drone capability is going on continuously” – he said, pointing out the importance of support from the society. “We have launched the territorial defence reservist program, the Cadet Program, and reopened the gate to the society. This has been a major cognitive change in the way of thinking of the Hungarian Defence Forces.”

He added that “the most important thing is to be human-centric. We must equip our officers and NCOs with state-of-the-art weapons and train them so they can implement successful and effective deterrence while protecting our soldiers and being able to safeguard Hungary’s security if conflicts arise.

Representing the Ministry of Defence, National Armaments Director MoD Deputy State Secretary for Force Development and Innovation László Deme introduced the efforts of the recent past. “The implementation of the armed forces development program in the last 10 years is an important period in Hungarian military history and the history of military capabilities. Our main objective is to lead the armed forces from the state of analogue technology into a fully digitized and integrated military capability” – he said in summing up the essence.

“First the 2014 annexation of Crimea, and then the 2015 migration crisis justified the development of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Besides working out the concept of armed forces development, the fundamentals of defence industry and the development concept were also registered, while key guiding principles were set out about the future of defence innovation. The three main pillars of the armed forces development program announced in 2016 are to replace obsolete items of military equipment with modern ones, to lay down the foundation of defence industry and to create a military career path” – he noted.

The deputy state secretary also talked about the governmental satellite program which may ensure independent navigation, communication and Earth observation at an adequate level. “To ensure their strategic autonomy, the establishment of proper space capability is indispensable to any country. By 2030, the Hungarian Defence Forces will have a high-tech capability that is not only able to adapt to the security environment but also to actively shape it” – he added.

Among the featured speakers was Dr. István Sárhegyi, President-CEO, 4iG Space and Defence Technologies Plc, who talked about the most important changes affecting Hungarian defence industry in light of the last one year. Governmental Commissioner László Palkovics gave a lecture on the increasing role of artificial intelligence in defence industry. The presence of Prisma AI strengthened the international aspect of the topic by introducing its latest developments as one of the most dynamically developing AI companies in India.

Space industry was high on the agenda of the event, which shows a very dynamic development although it is yet a small segment in Hungary. During the professional discussions, it was said that Hungary may come to have satellite production capacity as of 2027, and may also take a step forward in the development of launch vehicles, which is of key importance in terms of strategy and sovereignty. The international presence was strengthened by the participation of Axiom Space, one of the foremost players in American space industry. Gyula Cserényi, a trained research astronaut of the Axiom mission also participated in the conference.

One of the recurring themes of the conference was that although wars and conflicts have serious consequences, they often generate innovation. History – especially the period following World War II – well exemplifies that defence developments have become the foundations of several technologies that are already used in civilian life today. The Space & Defense Festival also presented this duality: responses to security challenges serve the strengthening of defence and at once the technological progress of the future. For many years now, Hylex Consulting, the main organizer of the conference has been creating a platform for players in defence and space industry, which also helps with this duality.