NATO air forces training starts in Náměšť next week

Namest nad Oslavou, South Moravia, Aug 30 (CTK) - Over one thousands soldiers from 16 countries will take part in NATO's Ramstein Rover 2012 exercise focusing on cooperation of forward air controllers and pilots and starting at the Namest air base next week, Czech military air forces commander Jiri Verner said.

The raising of the qualification of these military specialists deployed in Afghanistan will be one of the tasks of the exercise.

Verner said Ramstein Rover will be biggest international exercise held on Czech territory this year and also the first exercise of its kind that NATO organises in the country.

The exercise will last from September 4 to September 21.

Its commander Harry Schnell, from the NATO command in Ramstein, Germany, said Namest will be the main operational base and the tasks will be performed mostly in the training grounds in Libava, north Moravia, and Boletice, south Bohemia.

The L-159 subsonic aircraft that will participate in the exercise will fly from the air base in Caslav, central Bohemia.

The other participating planes will be the U.S. anti-tank L-39 aircraft and F-16 fighters, Czech L-39 trainers and L-159 combat planes as well as combat and transport Russian-made helicopters.

The Namest air base hosted the Flying Rhino annual exercise that was jointly organised by the Czech Republic and Britain from 2003 to 2010. In 2010, British air forces decided to cancel Flying Rhino.