Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said Hungarian Gripen aircraft safeguarding Baltic air space received their first live alert of 2022 early on Thursday. Szalay-Bobrovniczky said on Facebook that the Hungarian fighters had been alerted because of an unidentified aircraft. In line with international protocol, the Gripens identified a Russian IL-76 aircraft on its way above the Baltic Sea and then returned to their base in Siauliai in northern Lithuania, he added. “The Hungarian Air Force has again proven its preparedness,” Szalay-Bobrovniczky said. The Hungarian army is carrying out air space protection duties with nearly 80 soldiers and four Gripens over four months, jointly with Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy, under NATO command, the minister added.
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