The Technical and Operational Matters of the Development of the HDF’s Helicopter Capability

Abstract

The Hungarian Defence Forces encounters old-new threats because of the continuous deterioration of the security environment in the region, and these threats need to be met. The changes that have taken place in recent years, especially the ones that have resulted from migration processes, shifted the focus from the earlier evolving of expedition capabilities towards protecting the country’s sovereignty. With respect to the past few years the national helicopter capability, due to a number of international engagements, gained a significant amount of experience in crisis-management operations and it also experienced a purposeful development of some gears at a minimum level. In addition, limited resources resulted in obsolete conventional equipment and steadily deteriorated numbers in the strength of the forces. Because of the contemporary security challenges and the expectations of the alliance the development of the national helicopter capability is essential. The present decisions will determine the tasks performed by helicopters and the domestic „helicopter culture” over the next 40-50 years, so it is vital to take the technical and operational matters of the development of helicopter capability into account and analyse it in order to prepare for future decisions.