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Jet base Kecskemét: A mixture of East and West
By Stefan Petersen
Green is the prevailing colour of the flying suits in the briefing room of Dongó squadron. Only the tall man who is writing the planned sequence of the aerial combat mission up on the board wears blue-grey and the insignia of a Luftwaffe Wing Commander. As a German exchange officer at the Hungarian base of Kecskemét, Ron Triegel's job is to organise and conduct flying operations there to NATO standards.
The “Dongós” actually fly MiG-29's, and on this particular type Triegel has previously flown some 1,500 hours. “But they don't get enough flying hours here, so I have been assigned to the L-39 instead,” says the 44 -year-old. In addition to twelve single-seater and two two-seater Fulcrums, Dongó squadron operates eight L-39ZO Albatros for training and liaison flights.
All the L-39's come from the inventory of the old East Germany and are long-standing acquaintances of Triegel: “Those were the first jets I learned to fly in 1982 in Bautzen.” Accordingly, his conversion training went quickly. Only two and a half months after his arrival in Hungary in April 2004, Triegel was already an Albatros flying instructor. And fully occupied as well: only one hour after the briefing he is back in the cockpit of the agile Czech trainer, taking off for the third time today from the runway in Kecskemét for another session of practising NATO dogfight tactics with the Hungarians in the airspace close to the 100,000 inhabitant town of the same name, 80 kilometres to the south-east of Budapest.
“We are really sorry that we could not have Ron flying MiG-29's as planned,” says Group Captain Nándor Kilián, second-in-command in Kecskemét. “But we need all the available resources for our own Fulcrum pilots.” Hungary's air force is chronically underfinanced, and the MiG-29 component is the hardest hit. “Since we got the aircraft from the Russians in 1993 as compensation for foreign debts, hardly any money has gone into their upkeep,” Kilián explains.
Thus, some of the original 22 single-seaters and six two-seaters were taken out of service and cannibalised so as to keep 14 Fulcrums airworthy – “mainly to satisfy the NATO requirement for the provision of a national Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) force and to train the pilots for this.” Two aircraft and one replacement machine have been available in Kecskemét 24 hours a day ever since the country joined NATO in 1999. According to Kilián, every MiG-29 pilot completes some of his flying hours on the L-39, but even so, they only manage to get 70 to 80 hours per year.
However, with the version of the Fulcrum flown in Hungary it would not be possible to do anything more than QRA. “Although it has happened several times before, due to lack of compatibility there is little point in taking part in NATO exercises with these jets.”
For this, the Magyar Légierö has other aircraft. “The Gripen is now our main workhorse in the NATO framework,” says the 45-year-old Group Captain, who began his flying career in 1984 on the MiG-21 and last year underwent conversion training from the MiG-29 to the Saab fighter. By the end of 2007, all 14 examples of the Swedish multi-purpose jet should have been delivered to “Puma” Squadron – twelve single-seaters and two trainers. “We leased the aircraft with the aim that they should pass into our ownership after ten years”, explains Kilián. “The package also covers spare parts provisioning over the same period and 17,000 guaranteed flying hours.”
Hungary's Gripens, designation JAS39EBS HU, actually belong to series C/D, but differ from the basic model in some of the detail, especially as regards the electronic equipment for improved NATO interoperability. “We are getting Link 16 from the Americans, but we are way behind schedule over this”, says Kilián. Installation of the EWS39 electronic warfare system is expected at the end of the year. The Hungarian Gripens also have NATO pylons and larger auxiliary tanks which hold 300 litres more than the Swedish version. “However, one problem is air-to-air refuelling training. The Swedes don't get this at the moment due to lack of tanker aircraft.” Apparently several trials have been conducted with the South African Air Force, but now they are looking for a partner within NATO.
The weapons envisaged are AIM-9L/I Sidewinders and AIM-120C AMRAAMs, and for fighter-bomber missions at present the AGM-65D/G/H Maverick. Five Litening GIII pods were purchased back in 2005. Originally those responsible had been thinking of assigning four of the Swedish jets with six pilots to the NATO Rapid Reaction Force from 2010, initially in the air-to-air role and later in the air-to-ground role as well. But Kilián has qualms about this: “The MiG-29's and L-39's will be taken out of service by the end of 2009. After that we will have to provide the QRA force, participate in exercises in Hungary and within the NATO framework and train our pilots, all with the Gripen – but 14 aircraft are simply not enough for that.” To fulfil all the requirements, in his view 44 to 48 aircraft are needed. “But there is not enough money for that.”
As a result they are thinking of supplementing the Gripens with the L-159B. But for budgetary reasons, they will initially probably confine themselves to purchasing flying hours from the Czech manufacturer, Aero Vodochody. A leasing agreement is seen as an option in the medium term.
Since 2001 Kecskemét base in the centre of the country has been the home of all the Hungarian Air Force's jets and, since 2005, its transport aircraft as well, whereas the rotary wing aircraft are concentrated in Szolnok. The 59th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) comprises the two jet squadrons of 1 Vadászrepülö Század “Puma” and 2. Vadászrepülö Század “Dongó” (“Bumblebee”) plus the transport squadron, 3 Szallitó Repülö Század “Tevé” (“Camel”) with five An-26's. 1200 service personnel and 90 civil employees are under the command of Brigadier István Petö, a MiG-29 pilot.
Inadequate funding is not the only tribulation of 59 TFW. Another problem is the loss of qualified pilots. To reduce the number of personnel, the Hungarian Armed Forces have launched an early retirement programme. However, as the length of service completed is calculated more favourably for the jet pilots than for less heavily loaded personnel, there is a financial incentive for them to retire quickly – with the inevitable implications for the operational capability of the air wing.
And the early retirement plan is not only taking its toll on the Fulcrum crews, but Gripen pilots are accepting the attractive terms too. The contract with Saab originally covered the training of three groups each of five pilots and two groups each of 18 technicians. “But now we are negotiating about additional courses,” says Kilián, who completed his conversion training with the second group.
Fortunately a separate training syllabus appropriate for Western types was introduced with the Gripen, Triegel points out. What makes the scarcity of MiG-29 components even more painful is the complicated system of check rides and clearance flights inherited from the Russians and still used. “That costs a lot of flying hours which are lost to operational training,” he complains. This makes it difficult to implement NATO regulations.
Another factor which only aggravates the situation is the continuous transformation process which the Hungarian Air Force has been undergoing for years. “All of a sudden an expert in a whole complex area vanishes without trace – and with him, all that specialist knowledge.” Despite all their trials and tribulations, however, the Hungarians never allow themselves to become discouraged. “They fight like lions to satisfy the NATO requirements.” Triegel will stay on in Kecskemét until March 2008, giving briefings on NATO standards, preparing manuals and flying – the last ex-East German jet pilot still on active duty. Then the small German liaison detachment at the High Command of the Hungarian Air Force in Székesféhervár, consisting of himself and a second Luftwaffe officer, will be disbanded. “Eventually support measures have to come to an end.” When he and his family leave the country, he will at least do so in the knowledge of having helped the Hungarian Air Force significantly on the road towards becoming compliant with NATO standards.
From FLUG REVUE 11/2007
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