Poland and Hungary cooperate on Leopard 2 MBTs
Representatives of the Hungarian military paid a visit at the garrison in Wesoła. The Hungarians met the high command of the brigade and got acquainted with the military equipment it uses, Leopard 2 MBTs in particular. A similar platform is currently being commissioned in the Hungarian military. The visit may mark the beginning of the Polish-Hungarian cooperation in the area of the operational use of this platform.
The main goal of the visit was to exchange the experience on Leopard 2 MBT crew training methodologies. The Hungarian troops also got acquainted with the Polish MBT maintenance system. The Hungarian delegates talked to the Polish officers at the command of the 1st Armoured Brigade. Then, the guests visited the Brigade’s training range, where they could have got acquainted with the Polish Leopard 2A4/A5/2PL MBTs and their crews.
2nd Lt. Jacek Piotrowski from the 1st Brigade told us that the meeting had a goal of initiating future cooperation, with the details of that joint effort expected to be defined in the future.
(1/2) Today, in the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade, representatives of the Hungarian Armed Forces met with the #JEDYNApancerna command.#JEDYNApancerna #ŻelaznaDywizja #MagyarHonvedseg #WojskoPolskie
— 1. Warszawska Brygada Pancerna (@1WBPanc) January 20, 2021(2/2) The purpose of the visit was to exchange experiences in training the crews of Leopard 2 tanks and to familiarize the Hungarian counterparts with the armored vehicle operation system #1WBPanc
— 1. Warszawska Brygada Pancerna (@1WBPanc) January 20, 2021
- - -#WeAreNATO #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/Dqq4v98MTw
The Hungarian military has recently become another user of the Leopard 2 MBT. The Hungarian MoD concluded a contract with KMW in December 2018, concerning delivery of 44 Leopard 2A7+ MBTs and 24 PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers - all of them are to be brand-new.
Furthermore, Hungary also acquired 12 examples of Leopard 2A4 MBTs that are expected to be used for crew training purposes. The first of the “training” MBTs have already been delivered in July last year which marked the beginning of the training cycle for the Hungarian tank crews. Hungary expects the first lot of Leopard 2A7+ to be delivered in 2023.