{"id":23198,"date":"2020-08-13T11:59:14","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T11:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/08\/13\/hungary-plunks-down-1-billion-for-new-air-defenses\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:03:21","slug":"hungary-plunks-down-1-billion-for-new-air-defenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2020\/08\/13\/hungary-plunks-down-1-billion-for-new-air-defenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungary plunks down $1 billion for new air defenses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLOGNE, Germany \u2013 The Hungarian and U.S. governments have announced a $1 billion deal to equip the European country with new air-defense weaponry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sale includes the Raytheon-made Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile-Extended Range missile, of which Hungary requested some 60 copies in May through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, that portion of the deal is worth $230 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another transaction type, called a Direct Commercial Sale, accounts for the rest of the money, according to a statement posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Budapest. Such sales are negotiated privately between customer countries and American defense contractors, meaning the U.S. government has little involvement besides approving an export license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exactly what the DCS portion of the deal entails is unclear, though the embassy statement and Hungarian media note that all the equipment would go toward replacing the country’s Soviet-era gear with the NASAMS short- and medium-range air-defense system made by Norway’s Kongsberg. Raytheon’s AMRAAM-ER missiles are the interceptors in that configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\t