The Hungarian Air Force has completed a four month air policing mission from Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania, providing round the clock protection of allied airspace in the Baltic region, the alliance stated.
Hungary deployed four JAS 39C Gripen aircraft and roughly eighty personnel as the lead detachment from August 2025, working alongside Spanish Eurofighter Typhoons at Šiauliai and an Italian detachment at Ämari in Estonia.
NATO said the three units maintained a continuous quick reaction alert posture on the eastern flank.
According to the release, the Hungarian fighters logged more than 370 flight hours and executed over twenty alpha scrambles in response to varied air activity near NATO airspace. Lieutenant Colonel Péter Tősér, who commanded the detachment, said “our mission in the Baltic skies is more than air policing – it is a daily demonstration of allied unity.” He added that vigilance and readiness would continue as the mission transfers to the next Spanish rotation.
The detachment took part in several multinational activities, including a bomber task force integration flight over Riga, a flexible deterrence option mission during an alpha scramble and a dynamic targeting scenario focused on find, fix, track and target procedures. Gripen crews also conducted close air support training during Exercise Furious Wolf in northern Estonia and supported the Baltic Airshow in Degumnieki, Latvia.
Hungarian personnel completed specialist survival and readiness training during Exercise Baltic Bikini, which NATO said helped ensure crews were prepared for operations in the region’s demanding environment. The alliance presents these activities as evidence of improved interoperability and the flexibility of its air forces.
NATO stated that Hungary’s deployment contributed to the alliance’s integrated air and missile defence and supported the aims of Eastern Sentry, its enhanced vigilance activity on the eastern flank.
How “friendly” are Hungary, given Viktor Orban’s dalliances with Putin?
Hungary’s politics and its NATO commitments aren’t the same thing.
Whatever Orbán’s individual rhetoric, Hungary has consistently fulfilled its NATO Air Policing duties, deployed forces to Alliance missions, and operated within NATO command structures without obstruction.
This rotation is another example of that — Gripens under NATO tasking, doing NATO work, with NATO oversight.
So the performance of the Hungarian Air Force in this mission doesn’t really hinge on political disagreements between EU leaders.