Hungarian Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said that the new tank allows the Hungarian Defence Forces to enter the 21st century, which is another milestone in the National Defence and Armed Forces Development Program. The minister emphasized that the first five units of the new tank type – custom-made for the Hungarian Defence Forces – are expected to arrive in the next few days. The Hungarian Defence Forces have ordered 44 units of the new Leopard 2A7HU main battle tank, which are going to enter service with the Tata-based Hungarian Defence Forces 1st Armored Brigade. Besides the Leopards, several Leguan bridge-layers and armored recovery vehicles will also arrive in Hungary. The Hungarian Defence Forces will have received the full fleet by 2025. The minister added that this transition from the Soviet military hardware to the more modern technology is also helped by a cooperation agreement concluded with the German KNDS company, in the framework of which we are collaborating with the leadership of the factory on developing complementary services, simulation and maintenance.
This cooperation guarantees that the Hungarian Defence Forces receive not only new items of military equipment, but also a fleet of excellent quality, which the German company supports with important services as well. These tanks have been expressly made to meet the needs of the Hungarian Defence Forces in the Germany-based plants of the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) company as a variant of the Leopard 2A7+ main battle tanks – this is what the HU marking refers to. The Leopards are to provide the Hungarian Defence Forces with important capabilities. First, 12 units of the 2A4HU entered service with the HDF 1st Armored Brigade, and their procurement was consciously implemented in the spirit of preparing for the use of the 2A7HU version
