Back الجيش المجري Arabic Въоръжени сили на Унгария Bulgarian Ungarische Streitkräfte German Fuerzas Armadas de Hungría Spanish نیروهای مسلح مجارستان Persian Unkarin asevoimat Finnish Forces armées hongroises French צבא הונגריה HE Oružane snage Mađarske Croatian Magyar Honvédség Hungarian

Hungarian Defence Forces

Hungarian Defence Forces
Magyar Honvédség
Emblem of the Hungarian Defence Forces
Flag of the Hungarian Defence Forces
MottoA hazáért
(transl. For the homeland)
Founded16 May 1848 (1848-05-16)[1][2]
Current form15 March 1990[3][4]
Service branches Hungarian Ground Forces
 Hungarian Air Force
HeadquartersBudapest
Websitedefence.hu
Leadership
PresidentTamás Sulyok
Prime MinisterViktor Orbán
Minister of DefenceKristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky
Chief of General StaffColonel general Gábor Böröndi
Personnel
Military age18–50[5] years of age[6]
ConscriptionNo (suspended on 3 November 2004)[7]
Active personnel41,600[8]
Reserve personnel20,000[9]
Deployed personnel868 (2019)[10]
Expenditure
Budget$5.23 billion (2024)[11] (ranked 41st)
Percent of GDP2.14% (2024)[11]
Industry
Foreign suppliers Czech Republic
 France
 Germany
 Italy
 Sweden
 Turkey
 United States
Former:
 Soviet Union
Related articles
HistoryMilitary history of Hungary
RanksMilitary ranks of Hungary

The Hungarian Defence Forces (Hungarian: Magyar Honvédség, lit. 'Hungarian Homeland-Guard', Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈmɒɟɒr ˈhonveːt͡ʃːeːg]) is the national defence force of Hungary. Since 2007, the Hungarian Armed Forces has been under a unified command structure. The Ministry of Defence maintains political and civil control over the army. A subordinate Joint Forces Command coordinates and commands the HDF corps. In 2020, the armed forces had 22,700 personnel on active duty. In 2019, military spending was $1.904 billion, about 1.22% of the country's GDP, well below the NATO target of 2%.[12] In 2016, the government adopted a resolution in which it pledged to increase defence spending to 2.0% of GDP and the number of active personnel to 37,650 by 2026.[13][14]

Military service is voluntary, though conscription may occur in wartime. In a significant move for modernization, Hungary decided in 2001 to buy 14 JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft for about €800 million. It also bought two used Airbus A319 and two Falcon 7X transport aircraft. Three C-17 III Globemaster transport aircraft are operating from Pápa Air Base under Hungarian nationality mark but are maintained by the NATO Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW). An intensive modernization program started in 2016 under the name "Zrínyi 2026". New helicopters, tanks, IFVs and artillery equipment were purchased beside others. Hungarian National Cyber Security Center was re-organized in 2016.[15]

As of 2016, the Hungarian military has about 700 troops stationed in foreign countries as part of international peacekeeping forces, including 100 HDF troops in the NATO-led ISAF force in Afghanistan, 210 Hungarian soldiers in Kosovo under command of KFOR, and 160 troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hungary sent a 300-strong logistics unit to Iraq in order to help the US occupation with armed transport convoys, though public opinion opposed the country's participation in the war. One soldier was killed in action by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the HDF drove Habsburg forces from the country in the Spring Campaign of 1849, but was defeated by an Austro-Russian offensive in the summer. The Royal Hungarian Honvéd was established in 1868. During World War I, out of the eight million men mobilized by Austria-Hungary, over one million died. Conscription was introduced on a national basis in 1939. The peacetime strength of the Royal Hungarian Army grew to 80,000 men organized into seven corps commands.[16] During World War II the Hungarian Second Army was destroyed on the banks of the Don River in December 1942 in the Battle of Stalingrad. During the Socialist and the Warsaw Pact era (1947–1989), the entire 200,000 strong Southern Group of Forces was garrisoned in Hungary, complete with artillery, tank regiments, air force and missile troops with nuclear weapons.

  1. ^ Csákváriné Kottra, Györgyi (2011). Magyar zászlók a honfoglalástól napjainkig. Budapest: Kossuth Kiadó. p. 99. ISBN 978-963-09-6494-4.
  2. ^ Tarján M., Tamás. "1848. május 16. | A Batthyány-kormány megalapítja a magyar honvédsereget". Rubicon. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  3. ^ HM Igazgatási és Jogi Főosztály, ed. (5 May 1990). "A honvédelmi miniszter 2/1990. (III. 31.) HM rendelete a honvédségi szervezetek elnevezéséről és bélyegzőhasználatáról". Honvédségi Közlöny. 46 (7). Zrínyi Katonai Könyv- és Lapkiadó: 137.
  4. ^ "1990. évi XVI. törvény a Magyar Köztársaság Alkotmányának módosításáról". 1000 év törvényei. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Error" (PDF).
  6. ^ "2013. évi XCVII. törvény a honvédségi adatkezelésről, az egyes honvédelmi kötelezettségek teljesítésével kapcsolatos katonai igazgatási feladatokról.Zrínyi 2026 is a plan,to enlarge the number military personers to 40.000". CompLex Hatályos Jogszabályok Gyűjteménye. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  7. ^ Katonai alapismeretek (PDF). Budapest: Zrínyi Kiadó. 2010. p. 5. ISBN 978-963-327-490-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-12-17. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  8. ^ "Parliament approved the number of professional military personnel of the Hungarian Defence Forces". honvedelem.hu. Archived from the original on 2021-11-06.
  9. ^ "About Hungary - Hungary to increase its military reserves to 20,000 by 2026". 2 October 2017.
  10. ^ IISS 2020, p. 116.
  11. ^ a b "Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky noted that together with the National Defence Fund, the 2024 defence budget passed by the National Assembly includes HUF 1823.1 billion. (1823.1 / 348.9 (USD/HUF exch. rate) = $5.23 billion". 18 Jan 2024.
  12. ^ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: Military Expenditure Database, sipri.org, accessed 18 July 2020 (download data for all countries from 1949 to 2019 as an Excel spreadsheet).
  13. ^ IISS 2020, p. 115.
  14. ^ "Hungary Focuses on Military Improvement to Meet NATO Requirements". hungarytoday.hu. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Revised Hungarian IT Security Policy". National Cyber Security Center. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  16. ^ Mollo, Andrew, The Armed Forces of World War II, Crown, 1981, New York, p. 207. ISBN 0-517-54478-4.

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