1918 to pre–World War II Following the dissolution of the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, a small air arm was established, operating surviving aircraft from Hungarian factories and training schools. This air arm became the Hungarian Red Air Force under the short-lived
Hungarian Soviet Republic, but was disbanded upon its downfall.
World War II Under the
Treaty of Trianon (1920), Hungary was forbidden from owning military aircraft. However, a secret air arm was gradually established under the cover of civilian flying clubs. During 1938, as a result of the
Bled agreement, the existence of the
Royal Hungarian Air Force (), was made known. The army's aviation service was reorganised and expanded. In late 1938, the army aviation was once again reorganised.
Admiral Horthy, the head of state, ordered that the army aviation should become an independent service effective 9 January 1939. Colonel
Ferenc Feketehalmi Czeydner became the Air Section Chief in the
Honvéd Ministry; Major General
Waldemar Kenese became Inspector of the Air Force; Colonel
Ferenc Szentnémedy became Chief-of-Staff, and Colonel
László Háry was appointed head of the
Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légierő (MKHL). It subsequently participated in clashes with the newly established
Slovak Republic and in the border confrontation with the
Kingdom of Romania. In April 1941, operations were conducted in support of the German invasion of Yugoslavia and, on 27 June 1941, Hungary declared war on the
Soviet Union. In 1940, the decision was made to unite the Air Force, the anti-aircraft forces, and the civilian air defense organizations under one central headquarters. Colonel
László Háry was retired 24 December 1940, and on 1 March 1941 the new organization was constituted. General
András Littay became Air Sub-Department Chief, and Colonel Géza Vörös was appointed Head of the Air General Staff. On 1 June 1941, the Air Defense Corps was established, and Lieutenant General Béla Rákosi became Commander of Army Aviation. In effect the Air Force had once again become part of the Army. 1942In the summer of 1942, an air brigade was attached to the
Luftwaffe's VIII. Fliegerkorps on the
Eastern Front. Beginning March 1944, Allied bomber raids began on Hungary and progressively increased in intensity. The
101st "Puma" fighter group (later wing) was the elite unit of the MKHL (its name and insignia are carried on by the "Puma" fighter squadron of the Hungarian Air Force of today). Late in 1944 all efforts were redirected towards countering the advancing
Red Army, but to no avail. All fighting in Hungary ended on 16 April 1945. the 82nd Separate Bomber Division (
82. Önálló Bombázó Hadosztály, HQ in
Kunmadaras), the 28th Ground Attack Division (
28. Csatarepülő Hadosztály, HQ in Székesfehérvár) and a training air division. When Soviet forces invaded to suppress the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956, sections of the Hungarian Air Force attacked Soviet forces and resisted Russian attempts to occupy their bases. The resistance was short-lived and the entire Hungarian air force was
demobilized soon after. A reconstituted air arm was reformed in the following year as part of the
Hungarian People's Army, but initially only as an internal security force. The remaining Hungarian air force assets were organised in the Aircraft Training Center (
Repülő Kiképző Központ (
RKK)) on 1 April 1957, with one mixed aircraft types squadron each at the main fighter air bases at Pápa, Taszár and Kecskemét. Gradually, starting in 1959 as Hungary became stable, the air force was expanded again, but it remained an integral part of the army and was essentially a defensive force. During the
Cold War period communist Hungary had numerous
SA-2,
SA-3 and also
SA-5 (one unit) batteries and a large number of radar installations, mostly tasked with defending the Danube line against NATO air strikes. Army air defense was equipped with the
SA-4,
SA-6 Kub and
SA-9,
SA-13 systems besides conventional
AAA units. 2008 The Hungarian People's Army Air Force operated the
Yak-9,
Tu-2,
Il-10,
Il-28,
MiG-15,
MiG-17,
MiG-19,
MiG-21,
MiG-23 and
Su-22 combat aircraft during its existence. In the 1980s it had three fighter regiments (wings) at the three main bases with three squadrons each, with a total of approximately 100 active supersonic fighter aircraft. From 1989 the force was downsized several times until the early 2000s when only one active fighter squadron was remaining with often only 2–4 flyable alert ready aircraft at a given time. In mid-1993, three batches of 28
MiG-29s were delivered from Russia as a payment in kind of government debt. They were based at Kecskemét. In 1995, a German gift of 20
Mi-24D/V's arrived. For most other former Warsaw Pact member countries, pilot training was not a big deal. Each nation maintained an independent aviation technical college, an academy for training military aircraft pilots, and technical personnel. After the Second World War, Hungary created György Kilián Aviation Technical College in 1949, but in the 1960s domestic pilot training was discontinued and the 18 then modern
Aero L-29 Delfin jet trainers were handed over to the Soviet Union. The training of pilots was conducted in several schools and bases in the USSR in the following years, and also in Czechoslovakia, in Košice. In Hungary, only helicopter pilots and technicians were trained at Szolnok. In 1993, Hungary commenced its first pilot training course since 1956 at the Szolnok Aviation Academy. For this, 12
Yak-52 primary trainers were purchased from Romania. The German Government also donated 24
Aero L-39 Albatros jet trainers. The cost of domestic pilot training was later deemed too high after a change of government, and was halted after the completion of only one course. Also in 1997 the MIG-23s and Su-22s were withdrawn from service, the later type was retired just after an overhaul. During the 1990s all combat aircraft were fitted with new
Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems to enable operations in Western airspace. In April 2002, Hungary joined the
NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) pilot training program. and on 20 December Hungary signed a contract with the Swedish Government. The contract included leasing 14
JAS 39 Gripens, two of which are two-seaters, for 12 years beginning in 2006 (later extended until 2026). By December 2007 all 14 jets had been delivered. After the lease period expires in 2026, Hungary will own the remaining Gripens. On 23 February 2024, alongside the delivery of four additional Gripens of the same type, a further support and logistics contract for these aircraft was extended until 2036. A large-scale modernization program was launched in 2016 under the name "Zrinyi 2026". Its first significant step was the order of 36 Airbus helicopters in 2018. 20 H145M was ordered for light utility, SAR, and light attack roles. Later that year 16
H225M helicopters were ordered for heavy transport and SOF roles. All 20 H145Ms were delivered by the end of 2021. In June 2020, the last plane from the
Antonov An-26 fleet was retired from service, temporarily leaving the Hungarian Air Force without tactical airlift capability. Two
KC-390 were ordered to fill this role in late 2020. The first aircraft is to arrive in 2023, the second in 2024. The ground-based air defence arm also got a big boost in 2020 by ordering of the
NASAMS missile system and the 11
ELM-2084 radars. The
Mistral short range air defence system was also modernized. As part of the modernization program, the Hungarian Air Force became interested in obtaining new advanced training aircraft. The Air Force performed evaluation flights of the
L-39 Skyfox during
Aero Vodochody's visit on 17 November 2021. In April 2022, Hungarian officials and Aero jointly announced that Hungary has signed an agreement to purchase 12 L-39 Skyfoxes, expected to be delivered in 2024. In August 2021, a contract was signed with
SAAB to modernize the Gripen fleet, to include an improved PS-05/A
Mk4 radar and new armament. After implementing the MS20 Block 2 software upgrade, the Hungarian Gripens would be able to launch
Meteor,
IRIS-T missiles, and
GBU-49 bombs. All of these weapons are under procurement as of 2022. The Hungarian Air Force plans to keep its upgraded Gripen fleet well into the 2030s and even acquire enough fighters for a second fighter squadron. 5th generation aircraft like the
F-35 are too expensive, and their advanced capabilities are not necessary for the defense needs of Hungary. Airstrike capability (where stealth has a great advantage) is not a priority for the Hungarian Air Force, and no potential foe has stealth fighters in the region. Most likely, the Hungarian Air Force will skip on the 5th generation of fighter aircraft and plans to participate in one of the European fighter development projects in one way or another. == Structure ==