Defence Ministry signs agreement on Gripen fighter upgrade

Budapest (MTI) – The defence ministry has signed an agreement with the Swedish Defence and Security Export Agency about the upgrade of Gripen aircraft, the ministry said on Tuesday confirming a report by daily Magyar Nemzet.

The paper said that the contract worth 330 million forints (EUR 1m) involves the extension of the lease contract for Gripens. The Swedish side said the money will be used on extra equipment required by the Hungarian Defence Force to participate in international missions with the fighters.

The ministry statement said the new equipment, to be used for maintaining the aircraft on land, will greatly contribute to enabling the Hungarian Gripens to participate in the policing of the Baltic airspace next autumn. The development project is part of a European Union combat group scheme within the framework of the Visegrad 4 cooperation.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters