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NATO Days & Czech Air Force Days OSTRAVA
(17-18 September, 2016) |
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| Location: Leoš Janáček Airport, Ostrava, Czech Republic |
| Admission: FREE |
| Parking: N/A |
| Value: 150 CZK which is about 6€, free shuttle service |
| Rating out of 10: 8.5 |
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We're back for another edition of the NATO Days in Ostrava, Czech Republic, which is the biggest security event in Europe. The event was held at Leoš Janáček Airport, the aviation gate-way to the largest city in Moravian-Silesian Region. Responsible for the security part was the Czech non profit organisation JAGELLO 2000 which is also a part of the Atlantic Treaty Or-ganisation since 2003. Many different units from the Czech Re-public, Fire Brigade, Border Control, Police, etc. were involved in the ground and the static displays. |
| This year's special guest nation was Germany. The Germans brought a lot of equipment to Ostrava. The audience could see, in addition the German aircraft and helicopters, from the Joint Support Service the Dingo, the armoured vehicle Fuchs, the light armoured vehicle Enok, Water Canon YAK, road tanker 8x8 TEP 90 with conversion kit; from the German Red Cross the Nissan Patrol, a Mercedes Unimog, Rescue Seabob, a Water Rescue Boat, and also units from the Saxon Police were present on the event. The German Army was in the static display as well as in the dynamic display with a Leopard 2 and the Bergepanzer 3 (armoured recovery tank). These are only a short overview of the equipment.
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| The biggest surprise for the aviation enthusiasts was the partici-pant of all kinds of aircraft and helicopters which were in service by the German Air Force, Navy and Army. (see participation list) Heavy metal has been sent directly after the end of the multina-tional NATO Exercise, Ample Strike 2016, which was also held in Czech Republic, from the US-Air Force in part of the B-52H Stratofortress, the B-1B Lancer and the KC-135R Stratotanker to Ostrava. This exercise was the reason that we could also see the United States Army AH-64 Longbow Apache, two Lithuanian Air Force L-39 Albatros and the Slovenian Air Force PC-9M Hudournik here in Ostrava. |
Due the political situation between Turkey and the EU, the Turkish Air Force has cancelled their participation of the Turkish Stars and the Solo Turk. The Swedish Air Force Historic Flight brought the Saab 105, the J-29 Tunnan, the SK-35 Draken and the AJS-37 Viggen with an amazing display back to the sky over Leoš Janáček Airport. In the flying display from the Czech Air Force we could see the Aero L-159 Alca and a brilliant display as well from the SAAB JAS-39C Gripen. The Czech Air Force brought also the complete inventory of their helicopters, includ-ing the police helicopters, Bell 412, Eurocopter EC-135T2 to-gether with a brand new Slovakian Police Helicopter, a Bell-429, in the flying display. |
The flying display of the fast jets was this year was not domi-nated by the usual F-16's. For a change the Eurofighter was the dominant jet for this weekend. Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK (the Brit's don't like to say Eurofighter for their Brit-ish Typhoon) brought their jets.
The Austrian Eurofighter was stationed in Ostrava for the event, as normally they fly from their home base in Zeltweg. After years of absence in a flying display was a big surprise that we could see the German Air Force Eurofighter in flying display on an event like this. Both displays were not as spectacular as from the other 3 countries, but let's see what happen in the upcoming years.
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| A rarely seen display, and maybe one of the last, was from the Romanian Air Force, the legendary Mig-21MF Lancer C. This display of this old warrior was flown nearly to 100% with fully af-terburner. The French Air Force Rafale C, the Greek F-16C Block 52+ from the Zeus Demo Team provide for variety. At the end of the day the Italian Air Force Frecce Tricolori thrilled the spectators. Unfortunately the weather made the organizers un-happy. After fantastic weekdays we had a rainy and cloudy sky on the weekend. Let's hope for better weather in2017! . |
| Conclusion: a highly successful event for everybody! Great flying demos, fantastic ground displays combined with a professional organization. Well done!!! |
| Media would like to express our thanks to the head of the Press Center for their great hospitality and as-sistance on base. Our special thanks to Mrs. Barbora Urbisova. Thank you! |
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Aircraft participating:
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 BO-105, German Army
 Eurofighter EF-2000, German Air Force
 Eurofighter EF-2000, Austrian Air Force
 Bell-412, Czech Police
 EC 135 T2+, Czech Police
 Jas-39CGripen, L-159 Czech Air Force
 Mi-24, Mi-171s, Czech Air Force
 Rafale, French Air Force
 F-16C Demo Team “Zeus”, Hellenic Air Force
 10 x MB-339 “FrecceTricolori”
 Eurofighter, Italian Air Force
 SK 35C Draken, AJS 37 Viggen, J 29F Tunnan, Swedish Air Force Historic Flight
 F/A 18 Hornet, Swiss Air Force
 Eurofighter, Spanish Air Force
 Sw-4 Puszczyk, Polish Air Force
 W-3 Sokol, Polish Air Force |
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Static Aircraft:
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 BO-105, German Army
 NH 90, German Army
 Tiger, German Army
 A400M, German Air Force
 C-160, German Air Force
 Eurofighter EF-2000, German Air Force
 P-3C Orion, German Navy
 Sea King, German Navy
 Sea Lynx, German Navy
 C-130 Hercules, Austrian Air Force, Support
 L-39NG, AERO Vodochody
 Jas-39C, JAK-40, L-39, L-159,Czech Air Force
 Mi-24, Mi-171s, Czech Air Force
 L-410, Czech Air Force
 Jas-39C Gripen, Hungarian Air Force
 AN-26, Hungarian Air Force, Support
 C-27J, C-130J, Italian Air Force, Support
 C-27J Spartan, Lithuanian Air Force
 L-39C Albatros, L-39ZA, Lithuanian Air Force
 AS365N3+, Lithuanian Air Force
 E-3A Sentry (AWACS)
 F-16 MLU, Royal Netherland Air Force
 P-3C Orion, Royal Norwegian Air Force
 KC-130, Swedish Air Force, Support
 Saab 105, Swedish Air Force, Support
 Eurofighter, Spanish Air Force
 C-130 Hercules, Spanish Air Force, Support
 L-39 Albatros, Slovak Air Force
 Mi-17, Slovak Air Force
 An-28TDBryza, Polish Air Force
 C-295M, Polish Air Force
 F-16, Polish Air Force
 Sw-4 Puszczyk, Polish Air Force
 C-295M, Polish Air Force, Support
 C-27J Spartan, Romanian Air Force, Support
 PC-9M, SlovenianArmed Forces
 Eurofighter Typhoon, Royal Air Force
 Tornado GR4, Royal Air Force
 Hawk, Royal Navy
 Osprey CV-22B, United States Air Force
 B-52H, United States Air Force
 B-1B,United States Air Force
 KC-135R,United States Air Force
 AH-64 Apache, United States Army
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Report and photography by Peter Thivessen and Wolfgang Jarisch for
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