Even before the war started, German leaders were reluctant to supply German aircraft to the Royal Hungarian Air Force (Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légierő, MKHL), which was seen to be focused on home defense and the possibility of conflict with neighboring Romania. Furthermore, the deliveries of German aircraft went primarily to front-line formations rather than to home defense units. Moreover, Adolf Hitler held a bad opinion of the Hungarian aviators, expressing this view in early 1942 when Hungary issued another request for German-built fighters. "They would not use the single-seaters against the enemy but just for pleasure flights!... What the Hungarians have achieved in the aviation field to date is more than paltry. If I am going to give some aircraft, then rather to the Croats, who have proved they have an offensive spirit. To date, we have experienced only fiascos with the Hungarians."Neulen 2000, pp. 130–131. So, the Hungarian Air Force (MKHL) obtained much of their aircraft from Italy instead. This would change in October 1942, from which point the Germans would give the Hungarians modern German aircraft and their licenses.
