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Over 140,000 spectators visited on Day 1
Attracted by rich programme and great late-summer weather, some 140,000 spectators visited Day 1 of the NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days 2014. Under flags of 16 participating countries and NATO, 8 hours of programme full of individual and joint dynamic presentations was staged, including 4 hours of flying displays. Among the distinguished visitors on Saturday was also Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.
Apart from the flying demonstrations, the programme traditionally offered ground presentations of heavy assets by armed forces, police and many emergency management agencies like firefighters, custom service, prison service, municipal police and other, including displays of special units' training and their equipment. Among the Day 1 highlights were the European premiere of the US CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft used by special forces and a record-high number of displays of combat aircraft from all over Europe.
Organizers also introduced a novelty this year, allowing for a much broader presentation of a particular country's armed forces. The first country to become a “Special Partner Nation” was the Polish Republic. The spectators could thus view-up close a wide spectrum of Polish Armed Forces assets across the individual services. The presentation included for example the MiG-29, F-16 and Su-22 aircraft, the Leopard 2 tank, the “Humwee” special forces´ vehicle and the Rosomak armoured personnel carrier.
Apart from the CV-22B premiere, the Danish, Greek and the Netherlands Air Force presented attractive displays of the multipurpose supersonic F-16 aircraft. The Swedish Air Force Historic Flight demonstrated flying capabilities of their AJS 37 Viggen and Saab 35C Draken. The two aircraft also formed in a formation for a unique fly-by with the Czech Air Force JAS-39 Gripen.
Similar treat was the flypast of the Czech-made L-29, L-39 and L-159 aircraft. Finland participated for the first time ever and presented their mighty F-18 Hornet in an attractive solo display. Static park displays, under constant siege by visitors, included the KC-135 tanker, KC-130 Hercules transport, Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, Bo-105 and WS-61 Sea King helicopters and reconnaissance RF-4E Phantoms.
Saturday programme was ceremonially kicked-off by Prime Minister Sobotka. “On Monday, we will be discussing the (state) budget and it is my pleasure to announce that the Defence sector will get 43,5 billion CZK. This amount will rise every year by some 2,5 billion CZK on average,” stated the Premier. Other government members present included Minister of Defence Martin Stropnický, Minister of Interior Milan Chovanec and Minister of Culture Daniel Herman.
“I wish to thank all 140,000 spectators that took their time and travelled to our show here at the Ostrava Leoš Janáček Airport,” said Zbyněk Pavlačík, chairman of Jagello 2000, the event´s main organizing agency. “It is only because of them, our spectators, that we can justifiably claim to be the biggest security show in Europe,” he added.
After great Saturday, the gates will again open on Sunday at 8:30 and the programme of NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days 2014 will continue for the rest of the weekend. For the first time in the history of the event, President of the Czech Republic H. E. Miloš Zeman will visit the show on Sunday, supporting his previous auspices by the personal presence as well.
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14th NATO Days in Ostrava & 5th Czech Air Force Days!
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