Hungarian Defence Forces

Hungarian Defence Forces
Magyar Honvédség
Emblem of the Hungarian Defence Forces
Flag of the Hungarian Defence Forces
Motto	A hazáért (transl. For the homeland)
Founded	16 May 1848; 176 years ago (1848-05-16)[1][2]
Current form	15 March 1990[3][4]
Service branches	Hungarian Ground Forces  Hungarian Air Force
Headquarters	Budapest
Website	defence.hu
Leadership
President	Tamás Sulyok
Prime Minister	Viktor Orbán
Minister of Defence	Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky
Chief of General Staff	Colonel general Gábor Böröndi
Personnel
Military age	18–50[5] years of age[6]
Conscription	No (suspended on 3 November 2004)[7]
Active personnel	41,600[8]
Reserve personnel	20,000[9]
Deployed personnel	868 (2019)[10]
Expenditure
Budget	$5.23 billion (2024)[11] (ranked 41st)
Percent of GDP	2.14% (2024)[11]
Industry
Foreign suppliers	Czech Republic  France  Germany  Italy  Sweden  Turkey  United States Former:  Soviet Union
Related articles
History	Military history of Hungary
Ranks	Military 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.