Mentor Teams
This year, seven countries participated in Fire Blade 2025, contributing a total of 319 personnel (excluding ground, SOF, air defense, and host nation Hungarian personnel) and 19 helicopters from Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
In addition, 24 observers from both MHTC and non-MHTC member states attended the exercise. They were given insight into the cooperation between helicopter crews and ground force elements during COMAO. By witnessing both the planning and execution phases of the exercise, these observers gained a clear understanding of the benefits of multinational helicopter integration — potentially encouraging more nations to join the MHTC framework.
The entire planning process and execution were overseen by the MHTC Mentor Team, composed this year of weapons and tactics instructors from Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden — all graduates of the Helicopter Tactics Instructor Course (HTIC). The Mentor Team was led by the MHTC chief instructor.
“I’m often asked, ‘What sets the Blade series apart from other exercises? Why Blade? Why Hot Blade, Fire Blade, Dark Blade, or Black Blade? What makes it different?’ This is an exercise for everyone. Crews regularly take part in a range of exercises. The Blade exercise is no different in that sense,” explains Lt. Col. Zoltan Szili, deputy commander MHTC. “We do the job, but what makes it unique is the presence of helicopter tactics instructors, whom we refer to here as mentors. These mentors play a critical role. They assist, guide, monitor, evaluate, debrief and gather lessons learned from each participating helicopter crew. The mentors are pilots provided by the MHTC member states and are all graduates of the MHTC Helicopter Tactics Instructor Course. They form the backbone of our program. They are also responsible for developing our tactical Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). This SOP serves as the foundation for the Blade exercises, the simulator-based Helicopter Tactics Course, and the Tactics Instructor Course, which essentially trains the next generation of mentors. All mentor activities are coordinated, led, and supervised by the MHTC chief instructor.”
Szili, age 55, started at the age of 18 at the Szolnok Aviation Academy, and was later sent to Russia to train on the Mil Mi-8 Hip helicopter. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, his training continued at MH 87th Bakony Combat Helicopter
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Sept/Oct 2025
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