NATO DAYS OSTRAVA
WThere were several interesting highlights presented in
Ostrava this year. The NATO Days event is focused on de-
fense and security in general, but this article would only
discuss the air show portion.
Some premieres took place in Ostrava, which somehow
correspond with the trends in the development of mod-
ern air combat. And one should start getting used to it.
The MQ-9 Reaper UAV was the first of the unusual guests.
Jagello 2000 Zbyněk Pavlačík referred to the Reaper as
the "Icing on the cake". The drone made its appearance
in Ostrava thanks to the Ample Strike exercise, taking
place in parallel. It was presented in the static display
alongside the C-5M Galaxy airlifter that brought the UAV
to the Czech Republic. The organizers of the NATO Days
event emphasized the fact that it is the first continental
air show appearance of the Reaper in mainland Europe.
Note: the MQ-9 had been already presented at the Royal
International Air Tattoo in the UK in the past.
The Italian F-35A was another of the interesting, unusual
guests. The F-35 would soon dominate the inventory of
the European Air Forces, thus one may expect that the jet
would be a common sight at the air shows soon as well.
What seems to be new now, would be a norm in the future.
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