In an effort to expand and modernize its military and defense industries, Hungary has inked an agreement to build combat drones in partnership with Israeli and German companies, according to Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday.
Orban stated that the drones will be developed in collaboration with the Israeli defense technology company UVision and a German partner, which he did not name, at the opening ceremony of a new combat vehicle plant in Zalaegerszeg, southwest Hungary.
Orban remarked, “That’s good news for every Hungarian. If I heard about a country that produces and develops military technology alongside Germans and Israelis,
I would think twice about messing with them.”
The German military technology corporation Rheinmetall is the principal owner of the combat vehicle facility in Zalaegerszeg that officially opened on Friday and in which the Hungarian government owns a 49% stake.
The investment is part of the Orban administration’s ongoing attempts to strengthen its armed forces and enhance the manufacturing of military hardware. On Friday, Orban announced that operations would soon start at another Rheinmetall investment in central Hungary, which he described as “one of Europe’s most modern ammunition factories.”
Additionally, he mentioned the acquisition of the Czech aircraft maker Aero Vodochody by a Hungarian business in 2021 and the opening of an Airbus factory that produces parts for contemporary combat helicopters in Hungary last year.
Hungary’s military sector is expanding at the same time that it has continuously called for a quick cease-fire and peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
The Hungarian government has refused to send arms to Kiev or permit their crossing of the two nations’ shared border. Although Orban has depicted himself as being “on the side of peace” during the conflict, he stated on Friday that “for peace, you must have strength.”
The battle in Ukraine has “only strengthened our determination,” he said, adding that “we have not given up building an independent Hungarian defense industry, nor have we given up on putting Hungarian innovation and technology at the forefront of the world.”
According to Orban, Hungary, a NATO member, will meet the alliance’s requirement that its members spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense this year.
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