It turned out: Hungary would also buy one of the miracle weapons of the Ukrainian war
According to the sources speaking now, the question has been raised again and again in the internal circles of the National Defense for years, but so far other procurements have proven to be more important. Mostly though more and more factors indicate that in the medium term Hungary would also be willing to purchase US-developed HIMARS, however, no decision has yet been reached in the case.
HIMARS is a wheeled vehicle-launched multiple rocket launcher, basically equipped with a six-tube 277 mm M26 or M30/31 rocket launch container, but there is also a version that launches an MGM-140 ATACMS rocket. The firing range of “traditional” missiles is 30-70 km, that of ATACMS is 300 km.
The international success of HIMARS rose with the Russian-Ukrainian war that broke out in 2022, after the United States decided in the summer to deliver modern weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces. In the months that followed, the HIMARS inflicted significant casualties on the Russian military, with no official evidence that a single one was ever destroyed in combat.
Almost all the countries of NATO’s eastern wing already have HIMARS or have a signed contract for its delivery. Romania signed a contract to purchase 54, Lithuania 8, and Poland nearly 200 American missile launchers with the American manufacturing company Lockheed Martin.
Let’s imagine that an enemy army is approaching the Hungarian border. With the help of HIMARS, a bridge that they want to cross could be shot up to eighty-hundred kilometers in front of the border, a water tower or an oil storage tank, which is important for supply, could be shot down. That is, HIMARS is very effective in supporting a defensive operation
said the source spoken to.
Hungary currently does not have multiple rocket launchers since the withdrawal of the Soviet-origin BM-21 Grad rocket launchers, this lost ability can be replaced by procurement. In February 2022, Gáspár Gáspár Maróth, the former government commissioner responsible for defense developments, and Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, the commander of the Hungarian Defense Forces, also visited the United States for a live demonstration of an artillery rocket launcher system, but did not decide on the purchase at that time.
The reporting sources unanimously claim that one artillery division’s HIMARS would be enough for Hungary. Such a class consists of four to six artillery batteries, one battery of three to six rocket launchers. This amounts to 20-25 rocket launchers, half as many as the 54 units committed by the Romanian army.
This is strictly an artillery professional question, many aspects must be considered. But with a very rough estimate, it can be said that we would need half or a little less than what Romania buys
– said Ministry of Defense sources.
The cover image is an illustration. Cover image source: Wikimedia Commons