Hungary changed its mind about buying the US M142 HIMARS missile system before the US blocked the sale

The Washington Post wrote that the U.S. blocked the potential sale of HIMARS launchers and GMLRS munitions to Hungary. Now the European country's government has said it rejected the purchase as early as last year.

Here's What We Know

Senator James Risch, head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has blocked the sale of HIMARS. The reason was Hungary's reluctance to approve Sweden's membership in NATO.

In theory, the deal could have gone through if Budapest had changed its stance. However, the Hungarian government made an unexpected comment. It said it had abandoned plans to order highly mobile artillery rocket systems as early as last year.

This came after bilateral talks failed to reach an agreement with the United States. The defence ministry said in a statement that Hungary had requested information on the HIMARS. The deadline was set until March 2022. There was no response from the US, so Hungary considered the issue closed.

Previously, it was reported that the European country wanted to acquire 24 M142 HIMARS launchers and over 100 GMLRS precision-guided missiles with a launch range of up to 80 km. The amount of the potential deal was $765 million.

Source: Defence News