Hungarian Lynx driver training begins

Hungarian Lynx training began in mid-October at the Hódmezővásárhely military base. (HDF)

Hungarian KF41 Lynx infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) driver training began in mid-October at the Hódmezővásárhely military base, the Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) announced on their website on 29 October. The training was given under the guidance of German instructors, the HDF said.

Hungary received the first of 209 Lynx IFVs for the HDF at Petöfi Sándor Barracks in Budapest on 15 October. The first Lynx delivered was the basic IFV variant. Hungary has also ordered command post, reconnaissance, joint fire observer, mortar carrier, armoured ambulance, and driver training versions.

The Lynx will replace the 25th Mechanised Brigade's BTR–80 wheeled armoured personal carriers, which were delivered new from Russia as debt repayment in the mid‐1990s, according to Janes World Armies.

The Hungarian Ministry of Defence (MoD) ordered the 209 Lynx armoured vehicles, nine Büffel armoured recovery vehicles, nine armoured vehicle-launched bridges, and16 trucks, plus ammunition, simulators, training, an initial supply of spare parts, and maintenance support worth over EUR2 billion (USD1.98 billion) in September 2020.

Rheinmetall is building the first 46 Lynx vehicles in Germany, to be followed by the remaining 163 to be produced starting by the end of 2023 at the company's new plant being built in Zalaegerszeg, eastern Hungary. Hungarian employees of Rheinmetall have already begun work on the new Lynx vehicles in Germany.

The Lynx has a Rheinmetall Lance 2.0 turret armed with a MK 30-2/ABM (airburst munition) cannon that fires next-generation programmable kinetic energy time fuze (KETF) ammunition, Spike LR2 anti-tank missiles, and a 7.62 machine gun.

The vehicle has Rheinmetall's StrikeShield active protection system and Rapid Obscurant System (ROSY).