hungarian mod gets aerial tour of D.C.
The
Hungarian Minister of Defense and his delegation recently were
treated to sweeping views of Washington, D.C. and the
surrounding areas on a beautiful summer day during a test flight
aboard a UH1N “Huey” helicopter.
The Hungarian delegation discussed UH1Ns as an option to expand
the capabilities of their military while visiting the United
States earlier this month.
Hungary is in the process of reviewing an offered Foreign
Military Sales case for the Excess Defense Article grant of 24
UH1N helicopters, along with a complete support package,
following the concepts of the Total Package Approach.
They saw the aircraft up close at Joint Base Andrews in
Maryland during an inspection, hosted primarily by the Navy
International Programs Office and the U.S. Marine Corps
helicopter program office.
The visit to Andrews was arranged by the Office of the
Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International
Affairs, in conjunction with Hungarian Defense Minister H.E.
Csaba Hende’s planned visit with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
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Hungarian Minister of Defense, H.E. Csaba Hende, gives
the UH1N a “thumbs up!”
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The delegation consisted of Hende, Minister of Defence; Peter
Siklosi, Under Secretary of State for Defence Policy and Defence
Planning; Tas Kelemen, Director of Department of Defence Policy;
and BG Ferenc Korom, Director of Operations.
For the visit, they were joined by Hungarian Embassy
personnel AMB H.E. György Szapáry; COL Zoltán Bóné, Defense,
Military and Air Attaché; Maj Balázs Szekeres, Assistant
Defense, Military and Air Attaché; COL Mark Karas, U.S. Defense
and Military Attaché in Budapest; and COL Curtis Milam from the
U.S. ODC Office Chief in Budapest.
The delegation toured the base and got an overview of the UH1N
aircraft from the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force. The
USMC provided an informative briefing and inspection which
highlighted the aircraft’s positive attributes, while the USAF
discussed how the group of 24 would fulfill their requirements
well enough to operate until 2042.
During the meeting, DSCA was represented by Arlene Bubak,
the Country Program Director for Hungary.
Other representatives included LCDR John Roberts and CAPT
John Bamonte from the Navy International Programs Office; and
Charles Davis and Charles McManus from Naval Air Systems Command
PMA-276.
Afterwards, Hende, Szapáry, Siklosi and Karas flew in the UH1N.
“[Hende] remarked that enjoyed his flight over D.C. and the
professionalism of the men and women associated with the trip,”
said Bubak.
While in the D.C. area, the delegation also toured the Pentagon,
Arlington Cemetery, the Iwo Jima memorial, the National Mall and
the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
The delegation then flew to Florida to visit U.S.
Southern Command and U.S. Central Command.
Click
here
to see the readout from Secretary Panetta’s Meeting with
Hungarian Minister of Defense Csaba Hende.
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