The MÁVAG Héja ("Hawk") was a Hungarian fighter aircraft of World War II based on the Italian Reggiane Re.2000.

The 70 Re.2000s delivered from Italy were converted into MÁVAG Héja Is by being fitted with Hungarian-built Weiss Manfréd WM K-14 engines, armor for the pilot, an additional fuel tank, and being modified in various other ways.

204 Héja IIs were built by MÁVAG for the Royal Hungarian Air Force (Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légierő, MKHL).

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.

[2] These were delivered to the Magyar Királyi Állami Vas-, Acél- és Gépgyárak, ("Royal Hungarian State Iron, Steel and Machine Works"), where they were modified into MÁVAG Héja I ("Hawk I") fighters.

The WM K-14 was a licensed derivative of the French Gnome-Rhône 14K engine that necessitated a 1-foot 3-inch (~40 cm) lengthening of the Héja's forward fuselage to restore the center of gravity to a safe position.

The Re.2000s received by Hungary had faulty throttles, machine guns that often jammed or were misaligned, canopy panels that fell out during flight, and wing skin damage.

On the Héja II, the larger (often leaking) fuel tanks in the wings were replaced with 22 smaller 20-25 L ones, therefore increasing the manufacturing complexity and weight of the aircraft.

[11][8] The Kingdom of Hungary was an ally of Nazi Germany during World War II, with at least one Hungarian squadron flying the MÁVAG Héja I in combat on the Eastern Front.

From October 1942 until the end of the war, Hungarian pilots flew Bf 109s – both those supplied by Germany and those that were license produced in Hungary.

MÁVAG Héja Is were first sent to Debrecen to strengthen home defenses, as there was a danger that the growing crisis over Transylvania could lead to a conflict with Romania.

[14] Flying alongside the Fiat CR.32s of 1/3 Fighter Company, the Héja I pilots claimed eight kills for one loss during three months of combat against the Soviet Air Force.

After a steel plate was added behind the cockpit for the protection of the pilots, the shift in the aircraft's center of gravity led to more frequent accidents.

In a highly publicized accident, 1/Lt István Horthy, serving as a fighter pilot with the Hungarian Second Army, died flying his Héja I on 20 (on 18, according to other authors)[19] August 1942, on his 25th operational sortie.

Shortly after takeoff, a pilot flying above asked István Horthy to increase his altitude, he pulled up too suddenly, stalled and crashed.

[21][22] Nevertheless, the determined Hungarian pilots kept on flying combat missions with the Héja I and scoring a number of kills against Soviet aircraft.

Between 16 and 19 January, with the Red Army rapidly approaching Ilovskoye airfield, and with no time to heat the engines' frozen oil, mechanics were forced to blow up the last unserviceable Héja Is.

On 2 April 1944, 180 bombers from the USAAF 15th Air Force, escorted by 170 fighters, bombed the Danube Aircraft Works and other targets in Budapest.

During the last months of 1944, the 101/6 Training Squadron of the famous 101st Home Air Defence Fighter Wing "Pumas" had six flying Héja IIs.