On July 17, 2023, the first two multi-purpose transport helicopters H225M Caracal (tail numbers "70" and "71"), manufactured by Airbus Helicopters under the 2018 contract for the supply of 16 vehicles, arrived from France as part of the 86th Helicopter Brigade of the Hungarian Air Force at the Szolnok Airbase.
The first two Airbus Helicopters H225M Caracal helicopters received by the Hungarian Air Force. Szolnok, 17.07.2023 (c) Hungarian Armed Forces
Recall that on December 14, 2018, the Hungarian Ministry of Defense signed a contract with Airbus Helicopters (part of the Airbus Group) for the purchase of 16 H225M Caracal transport helicopters. The helicopters are manufactured at Airbus Helicopters in Marignane (France). The first two helicopters for Venria were built there back in 2021, but they have passed a long program of retrofitting, integration, testing and training of personnel and have been delivered only now.
The H225M helicopters for the Hungarian Air Force are equipped with the Airbus HForce armament system in the Option 3 version. It includes the L3Harris Wescam MX-15 optoelectronic station, the Thales Scorpio helmet sight and the Rockwell Collins Deutschland FMC-4212 computing unit. For use as part of the complex, Hungary purchased suspended containers with 12.7 mm FN Herstal HMP 400 machine guns and 20 mm Nexter NC-621 cannons and launchers of 70 mm FZ-233 unguided missiles, but the HForce Option 3 complex also allows the use of a wide range of guided weapons.
In the Hungarian Air Force, 16 new H225M helicopters are to replace Soviet-made transport helicopters as part of the transport helicopter battalion (Szállítóhelikopter Zászlóalj "Ernő Rubik") in the 86th Helicopter Brigade (MH Kiss József 86. Helikopterdandár) formed on January 1, 2023 at the Szolnok Airbase, which previously had the status of the 86th helicopter base. As of 2018, the transport helicopter battalion had five Mi-8T and seven Mi-17 helicopters, but in 2021 seven of them were decommissioned and now only five Mi-17s remain in service.
Earlier, the Hungarian Air Force, under a contract with Airbus Helocopters from June 2018, also received 20 light multipurpose H145M helicopters delivered in 2019-2021 to the combat helicopter battalion (Harci Helikopter Zászlóalj) of the same 86th Helicopter base (now brigades). One of these helicopters crashed on June 21, 2023. The H145M helicopters of the Hungarian Air Force are also equipped with the HForce weapons system.
The first two Airbus Helicopters H225M Caracal helicopters received by the Hungarian Air Force. Szolnok, 17.07.2023 (c) Hungarian Armed Forces
