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Hungary Air Force
In 1989 the Hungarian air force was organized into one
air
division and one air defense division, both headquartered
at
Veszprem. The air division consisted of three fighter or
fighterbomber regiments of three squadrons each. The air division
also
possessed one helicopter regiment consisting of three
squadrons,
one transport regiment consisting of two squadrons, and
one
reconnaissance squadron. The air defense division,
responsible
for ground-based air defense, consisted of three SAM
regiments.
Air force personnel in 1988 numbered approximately 22,000,
of
whom 8,000 were conscripts. The ratio of career personnel
to
conscripts was slightly less than two to one.
In 1988 the air force possessed 135 combat aircraft and
40
attack helicopters. The three fighter-bomber squadrons
possessed
ninety MiG-21F/PF/bis/U and forty-five MiG-23M
fighter-ground
attack aircraft. The reconnaissance squadron flew ten
Su-22
aircraft. The two transport squadrons possessed fifteen An
24/26s
and An-2s. The three helicopter squadrons together had
forty Mi24 attack helicopters, twenty-five Mi-8 medium-transport
helicopters, twenty-five Ka-26 helicopters for training
and
civilian duties, and five Mi-2 light transport
helicopters. Yak11s and Yak-18s, L-29s, and MiG-15UTIs were used for
training
purposes. The air defense system consisted of one division
with
three SAM regiments possessing some twenty sites and 120
SA-2/3
missiles. In June 1989, Brigadier General Istvan Schmidt,
commander of the Hungarian air force, announced that no
modernization of the air force would take place in the
near
future, meaning that Hungary would continue to rely
heavily on
the units of the Soviet air force stationed in the
country.
Data as of September 1989
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