Hungary, Mi-17 - The end is nigh

[Levente]

The last two operational hungarian Mi-17 are getting closer and closer to their end. One is in the EUFOR at the moment, and the second one flew there yesterday to replace it. Rumor has it, that due to lack of spare parts, the one which will come back will be shut down. And the second one will have the same fait a few months later. No info if a ceremony will be done in the near future for the type.

[Sleegertje]

Hi Levente, thansk for the information.
Do you know which two are operational at the moment?

[Levente]

Hi Levente, thansk for the information.
Do you know which two are operational at the moment?

702 and 704 were seen in the past few months.
701 flew last year as well

The Ministry issued a statement today:

Modern helicopters will replace the old equipment in the search and rescue service of the Hungarian Defense Forces, announced the Minister of National Defense. Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky added that the old Mi-17 helicopters were recently replaced by the modern H145M rotorcraft.

The minister reminded: the Hungarian Defense Forces has been responsible for air search and rescue tasks in the country since 1976. The basic goal has not changed since then: to provide assistance to aircraft in distress, as well as to passengers and their crew.

He emphasized: the Hungarian government's priority is the safety of Hungary and the Hungarian people, and for this purpose the Hungarian Armed Forces is currently experiencing a period of transformations and technical renewals: thanks to the force development program started years ago, the units of the Hungarian Armed Forces are equipped with the most modern equipment. Among the developments, the modernization of the air force, including the enhancement of rotary-wing capabilities, was given a prominent role, he added. He reminded: In addition to the Airbus H145s, the delivery of the Airbus H225M medium multi-purpose helicopters suitable for troop and cargo transport is also underway.

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky noted that the change of type increases the search and rescue capabilities of the Hungarian Armed Forces: both the helicopter drivers and the on-board operating personnel had to acquire new skills in order to be able to effectively carry out rescue tasks with the help of the latest technology.

Probably to save face when the Mi-17 will be phased out, cause in the past days, the media got the attention that only 1 is available. The H225 is still not ready to do SAR. Altough the H145 was planed to be available from the beginning to do the SAR duty as well.

[orange]

Mi-17 704 carrying EUFOR titles was seen at Szolnok today (all covered up).