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| Hungary plans to buy cargo aircraft to replace the ageing An-26 fleet. |
Hungary is under a major modernization process of its armed forces, the renewal began 12 years ago with the introduction of the Swedish Gripen fighter jet to replace the old MiG-29 fleet and continues today. During the last year the nation has acquired second-hand A319 and Falcon 7x aircraft for VIP and troops transport. In addition, it purchased 20 new Airbus H145M helicopters equipped with the advanced weapons management system. Currently the only obsolete aircraft in Hungary is the An-26.
According to a news appeared on dailynewshungary.com and the information received from our local source, Hungary is looking at a new transport
Aircraft to replace the Antonov. Chief of Staff Tibor Benkő said the nation is looking at reconditioned or new plane designed for military purposes and it must be equipped with a rear loading ramp to transport heavy equipment.
The market mainly offers 3 NATO-standard midsize military transport aircraft: the Leonardo C-27, the Lockheed Martin C-130 and the EADS CASA C-295. It is difficult to say which aircraft will choose the country, but certainly the most recent novelty on the market is the new variant of the proven C-27J presented by Leonardo on December 3, 2018. The Italian transport aircraft has been bought by many nations to meet the same needs of Hungary and can cover several roles and operate from semi-prepared runways. In addition, the new variant has modern features combined with a very low operating cost.
Written by Matteo Sanzani
