HUNGARIAN DEFENCE FORCES ONLINE

What began as a personal tribute to the memory of a mother grew into one of the largest sporting events of the KFOR mission: the “Hungarian Statehood Day Run.” The idea of Warrant Officer Zsolt Matolcsi eventually brought together more than one hundred soldiers in Kosovo, while the organiser himself completed the half-marathon distance on a challenging course featuring several climbs, finishing well within his target time. As his deployment draws to a close, we spoke with Warrant Officer Matolcsi about his personal motivation, the behind-the-scenes challenges of organising the event, preparing for the race alongside his military duties, and his experiences during the mission.Read more

“Unfortunately, one of our Gripen fighter jets has crashed; the pilot ejected and, as of now, is in an ambulance and is alive. There were no casualties, as it appears the pilot did everything possible to ensure the crashed aircraft landed within the military base,” said Dr Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, Minister of Defence, in a video posted on his Facebook page.Read more

The restart of the turbines at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant is going according to schedule and at a good pace, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said in the company of, among others, Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi on August 23 in Paks at an on-site press briefing held about the current status of the works at Paks and the planned switching back of the plant’s turbines.Read more

The Rhode Island National Guard once again hosted the Leapfest International Military Parachute Competition this year. 188 competitors from 47 teams representing 19 countries put their skills to the test at the world’s largest and longest-running military static line parachute competition.Read more

The inaugural European Judo Championships of Uniformed Services was held in Birmingham, with nineteen countries taking part. On the opening day, three Hungarian medals were won: Private Second Class Attila Üveges won gold, Corporal Ádám Kalász and Private First Class Brigitta Varga won silver medals. On Sunday, Corporal Dániel Miklósvölgyi won a gold medal, and Corporal Benedek Tóth took third place on the podium. At the event, Major Szabolcs Krizsán, commander of the HDF Sports Company, also played an important role as chairman of the European Judo Union Police & Military Commission.Read more

On Thursday, the Minister of Defence visited the military units stationed in Dunaszentbenedek and inspected the preparatory work for the construction of the riverbed sill. Dr Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi was accompanied on the site visit by Lieutenant General Dr István Kun Szabó, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, and Colonel Attila Csurgó, Commander of the HDF 14th Engineer Regiment.Read more

On 13 August in Bucharest, General Zsolt Sándor, Chief of the HDF Defence Staff, discussed with his Romanian counterpart, General Gheorghiță Vlad, ways to further strengthen military cooperation, joint training exercises and operational involvement, as well as experiences in force development.Read more

A parachuting exercise of the 57th Rescue Squadron of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) begins at the HDF’s 47th Airbase, in cooperation with the USAFE’s 37th Airlift Squadron.Read more

Captain Tamás Bánszki won the individual combined competition at the most prestigious event at the 2026 Skydive World Cup Series in Belluno, Italy. The Hungarian national paratrooper team, competing under the name CISM Hungary, finished in an impressive 7th place in an extremely strong field. This is an encouraging result a week ahead of the 48th CISM World Military Parachuting Championship, to be held in Losonc, Slovakia.Read more