Special Operations Forces of Hungary: Is a Transformation Necessary?

Publisher Marketing: Officially, Hungary started to develop its special operations capability in 2005. The Hungarian Defense Forces, however, already had units which were special operations capable, while the newly formed "34th Special Operations Battalion" does not have a comprehensive special operations capability. The units belong to various chains of command, their efforts and training are not coordinated sufficiently. Unclear or misunderstood definitions of "special operations" "special forces" and "special operations forces" carry the risk of misusing the existing capabilities, and may seriously hinder the effective future establishment effort. The research shows the current state of the existing special operations capable units of the Hungarian Defense Forces. The primary question which the thesis tries to answer is, whether Hungary should invest more in the (ongoing) establishment process, to obtain more effective and comprehensive special operations forces. For this, the author examines the identified (possible) tasks of Hungarian SOF, and compares the existing units and capabilities to the United States Army Special Operations Forces. Based on this comparison, the author tries to reveal possible capability gaps, and in the last two chapters provides solutions and recommendations for future development of Hungarian Special Operations Forces.