Buckle Up – There May Be Some More Surprising Surprises About Army Development

Machine guns, sniper rifles

Since last year, the production of pistols was carried out at the HM Arsenal plant in Kiskunfélegyháza, Hungarian soldiers and police are constantly armed with Bren 2 assault rifles, Scorpion Evo 3 submachine guns, P-07 and P- pistols. 09 assembled with a Czech license.

However, the replacement of the support weapons is still pending., the infantry rifles still use Soviet-made PKM machine guns and SzVD sniper rifles. We know that negotiations on the replacement of these devices will also end soonHowever, at this stage you can only guess which weapons will be exchanged.

The designer of weapons already made in Hungary, Česká zbrojovka, recently introduced a full percussion sniper rifle, the CZ TSR, but a state-of-the-art machine gun has not yet been developed, unless the Ministry of Defense is considering a system that he doesn’t even have plans. they are public, Most likely, the Czechs will not be runners-up in these roles.

A stronger opportunity here is the United States, which can offer a wide range of sniper rifles and machine guns. More of these, like the M249 machine gun based on the Belgian FN Minimi or the M24 sniper rifle based on the Remington Model 700, have been used by Hungarian special forces for a long time. A photo was also taken at the Brave Warrior international military exercise in Bakony, showing Hungarian soldiers with US M240B and M249 machine guns. It is conceivable, of course, that these are only American soldiers participating in the military exercise by “ lending ” the weapons to the point of practice, but this could even involve the acquisition of well-tried and tested machine guns in many conflicts, already be it from FN Herstal or the Americans.

It is also possible that Germany is runner-upSince in connection with armored fighting vehicles and helicopters, a close relationship of force development has been established between Hungary and the Germans. It is also a lynx maker. Rheinmetall, for example, has been working on the development of a 12.7mm machine gun for years.And there’s also H & K’s 7.62mm HK121 / MG5 submachine gun as an attractive purchase target.

It is also important to note that Hungary is an internationally recognized player in the sniper and destructive weapons market thanks to the Cheetah family., which is why it is rumored that self-developed snipers will be standardized in the Army.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that we end up buying this type of device from the Turks or South Korea, but that is not very likely. The most likely scenario is that machine guns and sniper weapons are procured from different vendors, for example, domestically developed rifles will be combined with American automatic weapons, but other variations are conceivable.

Guided anti-tank missiles

Although the replacement of the infantry anti-tank weapons is already underway and the RPG-7 missile grenade launchers will soon be completely replaced by the Carl Gustaf M4s, little has been said so far about the replacement of the Fagot, Competition and Metyisz anti-tank weapons. Soviet-made.

We suspect that negotiations are already well advanced in this area, One great possibility is the Israeli Spike-guided anti-tank missile system, which is also compatible with Lynx infantry fighting vehicles, H145M light multipurpose helicopters, and potentially available Boxer armored transport fighting vehicles.

It would be surprising if organizations responsible for force development chose any other type, but otherwise there is also a wide range in this market. In addition to the usual big players like the United States, Germany and France, even Poland offers self-developed anti-tank guided missile systems based on Spike.

Self-propelled air defense

While the expected acquisition of the NASAMS-2 missile defense systems for Hungary would certainly be a big step forward, this alone is not enough to adequately protect Hungarian airspace, as it is not necessarily worth firing an AMRAAM missile. of hundreds of thousands of dollars on a drone mounted in a garage.

Since the withdrawal of the ZSzU-23 and ZSzU-57, Hungary, for example, does not have self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, therefore, the acquisition of these assets is also likely to come into play in the near future. One of the most modern air defense machine gun systems on the market is now marketed by Rheinmetall, which also maintains a close relationship with the Hungarian government. the Rheinmetall Oerlikon 35mm “Millennium” weapon system. The type of weapon It is also compatible with a number of combat vehicles that can be considered for purchase.as a descendant of the BTR-80, as a Mowag Piranha or a joint development of Rheinmetall and KMW, Boxer.

Also important is the question of which air defense will initiate a with drones. There are already many methods to eliminate them; These include laser weapons, electronic jamming systems, kinetic weapons, and even hawks, but unfortunately all are rudimentary, mostly in an experimental phase, and viable solutions so far have not been very effective. In addition to drones, it was shot down by the enemy in modern warfare. Guided and unguided missiles must be defended, there are air defense devices with which they can be destroyed. For these purposes Rheinmetall introduced a high-energy laser gun last year.

We know this area at the moment, decision makers responsible for improvements are still waiting, due to the rapid development of technology It may not be worth renovating a weapon system now that it can become severely obsolete in 5 years.. In any case, we know Decision makers view the Initial Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD), a Stryker ICV-mounted air defense system developed by Leonardo DRS, as promising. equipped with various guided missiles of different calibers (Hellfire, Stinger), machine guns / machine guns (M240, XM914) and detection systems (MX-GCS EO / IR, MHR).

A multifunctional weapons system like this would be an ideal solution for the Army, and forces responsible for force development are likely to think of a similar combined solution.

However, procurement negotiations in this area are likely to have not yet started or are at a very rudimentary phase. Chances are high that decision makers are still waiting for this technology to become a bit more mature and expand in Europe.

Transport plane on ramp

The modernization of the Army aircraft carrier consists of three phases, two of which have already been completed with the purchase of the small aircraft Dassault Falcon 7X and Airbus A319. Subtracting the An-26, on the other hand It has also become necessary to purchase medium-sized transport aircraft with ramps, Hungary has probably negotiated this with several countries.

There have been rumors in the past that the Hungarian government negotiated with Brazil the purchase of the KC390 transport plane; These machines are definitely a first on the market as, unlike most medium duty ramp trucks, they are not equipped with a propeller but with a jet propeller. The C-2 developed by Kawasaki in Japan also offers similar technology, but we have no information that Hungary has agreed with them, of course this cannot be ruled out at all. As we know it, There are decision makers who find the concept of jet propelled mid-size ramp conveyors particularly attractive.

It is not excluded, of course, that the Army will eventually stick to the old and proven turboprop aircraft in this field. the Airbus A400M and the American C-130J Super Hercules could also be considered strong competitors.

What’s left in the tube?

There may be notifications of a series of acquisitions that may already be suspected, but official communication in this regard remains minimal or non-existent.

• Hungary has been known since last year’s Budaörs National Defense Festival. Turkish MRAP They will be regularized, but since the spring of last year there has been no official communication about them, only the Turkish press can be informed about the status of the hiring.
• Last year, the Hungarian state bought the Austrian Hirtenberger Mining Plant, the team here will likely also replace the current Army miners, but as the plant has been postponed with foreign orders for years, this is not due yet.
• Hungarian private investors bought AERO Vodochody Czech aircraft factory, chances are high that it will be manufactured here. L-39 NG training machines it will also be used by the Army Air Force.
• Replacement of the BTR-80 combat vehicles is also on the agenda, in some military circles, it is treated as an almost completed fact that Boxerek They will replace these combat vehicles, however no official referral has yet been received. In addition to the Boxers, the successors to the BTRs could be Mowag Piranha 5, FNSS Pars, Austrian Pandur, and even American Stryker.

We’ve written about the known projects so far here:

Featured Image: Mowag Piranha V with Rheinmetall Oerlikon 35mm anti-aircraft machine gun. In addition to Boxer, Piranha also has the opportunity to play the role of APC, which replaces the BTRs, and Rheinmetall’s air defense systems would be an obvious solution due to its cooperation with the company. Of course, it is important to note that until now there is no official government reference to the acquisition of the Piranhas or the Millennium Machine Guns, a combination of just one of the countless weapon systems available on the market from which they can choose. force development officers. Source: Rheinmetall / Youtube