The deal, worth about 1 billion USD, will be managed through the Foreign Military Sales programme and will be concluded by the end of September.

Hungary has long vowed to increase its military spending, which remains far short of the NATO alliance’s goal of 2 percent of economic output. Much of its military infrastructure dates back to communist times. It recently purchased tanks from Germany and is renewing its air capabilities as well, and Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has put more focus on the military than most governments in past decades, when economic improvement was the priority.