31st Kapos Tactical Fighter Regiment - Taszár



This is the only one aircraft regiment in the Hungarian Airforce with 3 squadrons. This is also unique in one more think. This unit operates the special reconnaissance / attack Su-22 M3 aircraft. Turul ( ancient Hungarian bird like phoenix ) and Boszorkány ( witch ) squadrons fly with MiG-21 bis while Fürkészdarázs ( searching wasp ) squadron flies with Su-22 M3.

This regiment started the setting up of the Corvin Foundation which is to help the families of the pilots died in training service and to help the cooperation between the pilots of different nations. The Taszár airbase was the home base of the International Air Displays during 1991 and 1992.


The story of the regiment

The ancestor of the regiment was the 50th Fighter Regiment wich formed on 11th November in 1950 and fly with Yak-11, Yak-9 P, Z-381 and Arado-968 type aircraft.

The Yak-18 type aircraft which were suitable for night flights too were put into service in 1951.

The 35th Fighter Regiment formed from one part of the 50th Fighter Regiment and they started to retrain for the new MiG-15 type in April of 1952. The retraining were provided by a Soviet fighter regiment and the MiG-15 were put into service with the 35ths during this year.

In the first part of the '50s the crew formed as one of the new Training Centre's squadrons. Before the reorganisation of the Training Centre the the MiG-17 PF were put into service in the summer of 1955.

During the reorganization of the Training Centre it was divided into the 59th, 31st and 47th Fighter Regiments. The 31th Fighter Regiment formed in November of 1958 and they got the MiG-19 type in 1960. From March of 1960 they had performed third degree readiness service and second degree from May of 1961.

Putting the MiG-21 which was one of the top fighters that time into service started in 1962 with the MiG-21 F-13. This was followed by the MiG-21 PF in 1964, the MiG-21 MF in 1973 and the MiG-21 bis in 1975.

The Su-22s arrived to the regiment in the autumn of 1982 onboard transport planes. The test flights were finished by March of 1984 and the pilots got the operational status 2 and a half year after.

The present 31st Kapos Tactical Fighter Regiment formed on 1st November in 1991 from the crew and aircraft of the Kapos National Fighter Division and the 101st Reconnaissance Squadron.

In the '90s Taszár came into the limelight as the civil war in the S neighbourhood of Hungary made protecting our border and airspace more necessary than ever in the last years. After the brake out of the war there were 60-70 live alerts sometimes 5-6 a day while the previous years there were only 1-2 live alert for the aircraft beeing in readines.

Current type

  • 2 squadrons ( 19/6 ) MiG-21 bisz/UM
  • 1 squadron ( 9/2 ) Su-22 M3/UM


The tasks of the regiment

The main tasks are the same as the 59th regiments' ( see there ) but they are responsible for the SW part of the country. This area is bordered by the river Danube, the line of lake Balaton and the state border.


Current type of the regiment

MiG-21 bis is the latest verification of the second generation MiG-21 family. It is capable to engage air target day or night in all weather conditions. It has limited air to ground capability. Its armament consists of semi active radar giuded and infrared dogfight missiles and an internal 23 mm 2 barrel machine gun. Against ground targets it can carry bombs and ungiuded rockets. The radar has a 20 km range and has neither multiple target tracking and engaging or look down / shoot down capability.

Length 15.75 m
Height 4.49 m
Wingspan 7.16 m
Wing area 22.9 m²
Max. take off roll 9400 kg
Max. speed 2.1 M
Landing speed 270 km/h
Take off / landing roll 800/550 m
Engine type 1 Tumanszkij R-25-300
thrust 7500 kp

For more information see our type descriptions page!


Su-22 M3 is a Russian made reconnaissance / ground attack aircraft. The aircraft which has pivoted swept wings is capable of carrying a large amount of air to ground weapons such as special antiradiation missiles, guided missiles, normal and laser guided bombs and cluster bombs. Infrared dogfight missiles also can be carried for self defence purposes. Reconnaissance pods also can be carried.

Length 17.6 m
Height 4.6 m
Wingspan 10.5/14 m
Wing area 37.2 m²
Max. take off weight 17700 kg
Take off/landing speed 265 km/h
Take off/landing roll 620/600 m
Engine type 1 Tumanszkij R-29
thrust 7850/12200 kp

For more detailed description see our type description section!

Collected and put together by Tamás Gál; Transferred to HTML language by Kornél Straub

All rights reserved! © Eastern Wings 1996.