Namest nad Oslavou, South Moravia, Oct 1 (CTK) – About 18,000 people visited Saturday’s public presentation of Czech military aircraft that marked the 60th anniversary of the 20th air fighter regiment that was established in 1956 and started to use the new Namest nad Oslavou air base four years later.
The presentation at the Namest base, which is a helicopter base now, included helicopters as well as modern and historical aircraft.
The event started with the flights of JAS-39 Gripen fighters, which have been used by the Czech air force for several years now.
Out of the historical planes, the visitors could see MiG-15s, the first fighters to be seated at the Namest base after its completion in 1960, before being replaced with Soviet Su-7 bombers after five years.
The programme included the presentation of combat actions and also the extinguishment of a burning field from a police helicopter and the flight of historical biplanes.
A number of aircraft, including a Su-22 combat plane and a Z-42 training aerobatic plane, were available for visitors to tour on the ground, as was an anti-aircraft missile system and a remote-controlled BOZENA 5 mine clearance system.
About 1,100 people, mainly career soldiers, work at the Namest nad Oslavou base.
From 1989, local pilots repeatedly joined military missions abroad, most recently mainly in Afghanistan, the base commander Petr Cepelka told CTK.
The air force units of the Namest base, or the 20th air fighter regiment, were established on October 1, 1956. In the beginning, the regiment operated at the Caslav airport, central Bohemia. It moved to Namest nad Oslavou on January 14, 1960.
It has undergone a number of changes since.
In 2013, helicopters from the nearby Prerov base moved definitely to Namest, where the operation of jet planes was terminated.
