Hungary is near to finalizing the purchase of M142 HIMARS rocket and missile launching systems from the United States.
The Hungarian Minister of Defense, Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky confirmed the advanced state of ongoing negotiations between Budapest and Washington for this powerful weapon system on his return flight from the diplomatic mission carried out in the United States with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Hungarian interest is centered on the purchase of about twenty HIMARS systems with a first provision of ammunition.
Nevertheless, in the event that the negotiation, as it seems, were successful, the deliveries by Lockheed Martin, despite the doubling of the annual system production to about a hundred examples, could not be executed before three to five years from the signing of the contract.
Indeed, Lockheed Martin’s production lines are already fully committed to fulfill orders received from the US Armed Forces and international customers, and therefore, delivery times are extended.
The Hungarian artillery is primarily based on 24 self-propelled PzH 2000s ordered in 2018, with deliveries recently completed.
There are also 12 old Soviet towed D-20 or M1955 guns in service, with more than 280 examples kept in reserve.
Photo credit @Estonian National Defense Ministry
