2009.07.27. 11:48
First NATO C-17 jet arrives at W Hungary base (adds details)
Budapest - The first US-made C-17 NATO military cargo aircraft was presented at the Papa base in western Hungary on Monday in presence of the NATO's deputy chief and the Hungarian prime minister.
The Globemaster III Boeing is the first of those three to be stationed at the base under NATO's Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) programme.
Addressing the ceremony, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai called it a historic achievement that the military air transportation fleet had been created as a result of cooperation of 12 countries.
"The strategic cooperation that has allowed the implementation of this Strategic Airlift Capability programme can not be valued and appreciated enough," said the prime minister.
The fact that Papa in Hungary had been selected as a base for the programme indicates that the country is a trusted partner within NATO, he said.
In his address NATO Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bissogniero said Hungary had played a key role in the stratgic airlift programme.
Hungarian Defence Minister Imre Szekeres said that Afghanistan, the Sinai Peninsula and Cyprus were destinations for the 265-tonne aircraft for transporting troops, military hardware and humanitarian supplies.
Szekeres said that Hungary had contributed 1.5 billion forints (EUR 5.6m) to the initial investment would spend an around one billion forints on operational costs annually. Papa base has undergone a 9 billion forint upgrade.
On additional cooperation prospects the minister said he was in talks with the Canadian government about offering Papa as a base for another four C-17 craft of the Canadian army from as early as 2011.
