We are working on the defence of Hungary preparedly, pursuing a pre-set strategy

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that the whole exercise is part of what is called force development, which is a very complex and intricate process.

Already in the early 2010s, Hungary realized that more dangerous times were ahead, and there would be a need for the transformation of the Hungarian Defence Forces into much more combat-worthy, combat ready, “live” armed forces – added the minister.

He said that our procurements of military equipment that were started in time have borne their fruit by now, but additionally, the armed forces must meet countless other criteria to become the combat-worthy military that is able to guarantee Hungary’s security. By way of example, he mentioned the maintenance of equipment, the availability of tactical procedures worked out for the assets, and the requirement that the personnel acquire the various doctrines on skill level. Man is the most important component – he said, adding that the HDF can attract people with adequate recruitment drive, and the training must prepare soldiers for the use of the new equipment.

Moreover, he called the soldiers’ “ethos” very important, as it provides them with a guideline: “why they are fighting, why the Hungarian soldiers stand where they do, and how they can ensure the security of Hungarian people”.

The country defence Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025 is an important element of the military development process, and today the visitors saw a phase of it. As he put it, this exercise is a kind of “feedback” from the armed forces development process. He noted that exercises of this scale and complexity are important because the HDF can analyze the lessons learned on them.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that with the assistance from soldiers of the Szentes regiment, today the training audience completed, to high standards, the very intricate exercise that is called wet gap crossing in military terminology. Both sides of the Russo-Ukrainian War had attempted to execute this operation, but they failed due to artillery fire and other hindrances – he said.

He called it very important to make sure that the armed forces can operate in the Hungarian people’s interest not merely by themselves but in cooperation with the rest of the state administration. According to him, today’s display was a nice example of it, as the representatives of cooperating organizations – for example, disaster management personnel and policemen – were exercising together on the bridge laid by the HDF.

The minister of defence highlighted that joint action of the services is a characteristic of the whole exercise. Besides the army engineers of the Szentes regiment, today’s phase also involved the personnel and elements of the HDF 30th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, as well as H145 and H225 helicopters and Gripen fighter aircraft of the air force, and the “formidable weapons” of today’s warfare, the drones and the counter-drone systems also appeared, while the military medical capability passed this exam with flying colors as well – said the minister.

He declared that this exercise, just like Hungary’s security as a whole, is only conceivable and actually is within NATO frameworks. “Our Turkish comrades” also participated in today’s phase, and the whole Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025 is going on within NATO frameworks, the language of command is English, too. Besides our well-functioning national military, the ultimate guarantee of Hungary’s security is NATO, of which we are esteemed and recognized members – said Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, who closed his speech with the words “Peace requires strength”.

General Dr. Gábor Böröndi, Chief of HDF Defence Staff said that Hungary and the Hungarian Defence Forces need this capability that was on display during the Thursday exercise phase, since our homeland is crossed by rivers. According to him, the essence of these exercises is not demonstration but the knowledge gained and the analysis of the lessons learned, as well as feeding them back into the training process. Also important are the cooperation with local governments, the public administration and NATO partners, and the interoperability among the air force, the land forces and logistics within the Hungarian Defence Forces.

“We are making good progress in learning, we are going forward”. It is in our interest to have combat-worthy, prepared Hungarian Defence Forces which are able to defend the security of Hungarian people and are a reliable member of NATO – stated Gábor Böröndi.

According to the press release forwarded to Hungarian news agency MTI, the crossing of River Tisza on display during the Thursday phase of the country defence Exercise Adaptive Hussars 2025 demonstrates the capability of the Hungarian Defence Forces for international cooperation, the support of complex operations, as well as the replacement and maintenance of critical infrastructure in peacetime and operational environments alike.