Shortly before Christmas, the 1st Armored Brigade of the Hungarian Army received its first two Wisent 2 armored recovery vehicles. The first armored recovery vehicle arrived at the unit’s barracks in Tata on December 12. A few days later, the second Wisent 2 was also delivered. Built on the chassis of the Leopard 2 main battle tank, the recovery vehicle can be equipped with a crane as well as excavator and mine-clearing equipment in addition to the standard configuration.
Back in 2018, the Hungarian Ministry of Defense signed a contract for the procurement of 44 Leopard 2 and 24 PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers with KNDS Germany (then still Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) to strengthen the land forces. On the basis of this agreement, Hungary will also receive five Wisent 2HU recovery vehicles and three Leguan 2HU armored bridgelayers by 2028. The Wisent 2 was developed by the German company Flensburger Fahrzeugbau GmbH (FFG). https://militaeraktuell.at/japan-erhoeht-verteidigungsausgaben-10-prozent/ Thanks to its modular design, the system, which is based on the Leopard 2 chassis, can be converted from a tank recovery variant into an armored engineer vehicle within five hours. Its crane is capable of lifting loads of up to 32 tons so that it can be used for high-volume battle damage repair (BDR) processes, such as replacing engines. Hungarian Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky emphasized that all modern armed forces need tracked, armored multipurpose vehicles with high protection capabilities. The Wisent 2 fulfills all requirements in this respect, as it can recover and tow damaged and stuck combat vehicles. Furthermore, the Minister of Defense said that these vehicles completed the renewal of the armored force. In addition to the delivery of the two recovery vehicles, the Hungarian armed forces also received three more Leopard 2A7HU main battle tanks in December. This brought the number of Leopards in service with the “vitéz Tarczay Ervin” tank battalion of the 1st Armored Brigade to 31.
