The last weekend offered an outstanding show for aviation and military fans. Contrarily to the previous edition, the venue at the Leoš Janáček Airport Ostrava again roared with an enthusiastic applause of tens of thousands of spectators, who were up to an unforgettable parade of equipment used both by the Czech Armed Forces and our NATO Allies. It was one of a few events of this type in Europe accessible to the public.
On Friday, on the eve of the NATO Days, hotel Clarion was the venue to a defence technology conference organised by the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic and the Jagello 2000 association, whose primary topic was the role and impact of emerging and disruptive technologies in the defence domain, specifically discussing the space technology, artificial intelligence, cybernetics and quantum technology.
Sweden as the Special Partner Nation
The NATO Days 21 introductory addresses were presented by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar, Chief of General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces General Aleš Opata, Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region Ivo Vondrák, World War II veterans Emil Boček and Miloslav Masopust and many other distinguished guests, including foreign delegations and Defence Ministers of Slovenia, Sweden and Slovakia. The special partner nation of this year’s issue was Sweden, which brought to Ostrava an exhibit of history of the Swedish Air Force, as well as the newest equipment in the form of the latest generation of Gripen fighters.
‘Dear fans of aviation and of the military, unlike last year, the Ostrava Mošnov airport can be filled with spectators at least partially. The biggest airshow in Central Europe unquestionably deserves it. Besides the flight demonstrations, a modernisation exhibit was prepared for you to see that we truly endeavoured on building a 21st century armed forces. You will see the difference between the older equipment and the equipment we need and will use. We are doing our best to position ourselves among reliable and excellently prepared NATO Allies,’ Defence Minister Lubomír Metnar underscored in his remarks.
Close cooperation with Israel
Common airdrop of three dozens of Czech, Slovak and Israeli airborne soldiers from a CASA aircraft was prepared as a surprise for visitors. ‘The symbolic meaning of this demonstration has a deep historical context. We are following the cooperation we had in 1948, when the former Czechoslovakia provided material aid to the nascent state of Israel and trained Israeli specialists, pilots and paratroopers on its territory, ’ Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said.
‘I would like to thank all our men and women in uniform, as well as the organisers of this iteration of the NATO Days. We are showcasing the progress in armaments and modernisation of the Czech Armed Forces by comparing existing and future equipment,’ General Aleš Opata said.
Demonstration of the future
The features of F-35A Lightning II and MQ-9 Reaper boasting state-of-the-art technologies were complemented by the CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, the C-5M Super Galaxy airplane and AH-64D Apache, UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper rotary wing aircraft on static display. The Luftwaffe A400M Atlas transport airplane was shown both on the ground and in the air. The legendary World War II transport airplane – the C-47 Dakota – brought in a historical element in the flight demonstrations.
Dynamic displays featured F-16 fighters from the Zeus Demo and SoloTurk teams, as well as Gripens of the Czech, Hungarian and Swedish Air Force. Given the major support by Sweden as the partner nation the predecessors of the Gripen fighter presented themselves too. Helicopter fans were offered a variety of machines, including the Belgian AW109, Swiss Super Puma and Czech Air Force Mi-171Sh, Mi-24/35 and PZL Sokol as well as Slovak UH-60 Black Hawk and German EC-135. The L-39NG and A-330 MRTT aircraft presented themselves in a flight demonstration in Ostrava for the first time.
A broad variety of combat demonstrations, including the display of skills and capabilities of equipment, were presented by the 7th Mechanised Brigade. An attractive spectacle in the form of the T-72M4CZ Main Battle Tank showing its capability was complemented with a number of BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, including medical evacuation and recovery variants. The dynamic part introduced an assault on the opposing force position, its neutralisation, taking control of the perimeter, and medical evacuation. This year’s edition also featured a juxtaposition of obsolete and modern equipment.
