Dny NATO v Ostravě 2019 (NATO Days)

NATO Days in Ostrava (Dny NATO v Ostravě) began in 2001, two years after the Czech Republic joined the Atlantic Alliance, with a very specific purpose: to show the general public the means by which the country, its NATO allies and other partner states provide security, both international and military and domestic. The first two editions were not held at an airfield but at the Černá louka exhibition grounds in the centre of Ostrava. At that first event, held on a Friday afternoon, visitors saw military and rescue equipment, the kit of special and reconnaissance units, counter-terrorist commando drills, drug and weapons searches, and firefighting and rescue demonstrations. Elite paratroopers from Bielsko-Biała also took part: Poland thus became the first foreign country to attend the show and remains the only one present at every edition. In 2002 the first non-NATO country arrived, Slovakia, which sent its 5th Special Purpose Regiment from Žilina and used its participation to support its candidacy ahead of the Prague summit.

From the third edition, in 2003, the event has been held at Leoš Janáček Ostrava Airport at Mošnov, whose setting allows flying displays. Between 2003 and 2007 it was staged in mid-September; since 2008 it has occupied the third weekend of the month, and since 2009 it has run over two days, the year the show also moved to a different part of the airport (the northern side). Admission has always been free, with the single exception of 2021, when pandemic restrictions forced the organisers to cap and sell tickets. The programme combines talks, film screenings, seminars and presentations of military and rescue equipment during the week with the weekend display at the airport: heavy military, police and rescue equipment, special-forces training demonstrations, aerial displays, and presentations of the weapons and equipment of Czech and foreign participants. The Czech and Slovak Transatlantic Award, first presented in 2012, is also awarded on the occasion of the event.

The main organiser is the Jagello 2000 association, together with the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic, the Moravian-Silesian Region Fire and Rescue Service, the Moravian-Silesian Region Regional Police Directorate, the regional Emergency Medical Service and Leoš Janáček Ostrava Airport itself. The show enjoys long-standing support from the Czech ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, the Moravian-Silesian Region, the statutory city of Ostrava and NATO's Public Diplomacy Division. In 2010, thanks to a decision by General Jiří Verner, the Czech Air Force Days (Dny vzdušných sil AČR) were held alongside for the first time, and the two events have shared a bill ever since.

Mošnov's list of firsts is a long one. In 2003 the highlight was the flying display of the Mi-24 attack helicopter, and the United Kingdom joined in with its BMATT training team from Vyškov. In 2004 visitors were allowed for the first time in the Czech Republic to board an E-3A Sentry "AWACS" from the NATO air base at Geilenkirchen. In 2005 the first foreign air force appeared, the Royal Air Force, with two Tornado F3s of 111 Squadron from Leuchars, a type that kept coming until 2010. In 2006 the RAF sent twenty-one aircraft, the Red Arrows performed, and the United States Air Force made its debut with two F-15C Eagles and two F-15E Strike Eagles. In 2007 the British Eurofighter Typhoon F2 made its first landing in Central and Eastern Europe — it was welcomed in person by General Zdeněk Škarvada, a veteran of Second World War air combat — and the Military History Institute displayed the Israeli Merkava Mk I tank. Then came the Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan in 2008, the American C-5 Galaxy in 2009, the B-52H strategic bomber in 2010, the Turkish Stars on NF-5s and two Israeli F-15D Baz fighters in 2011, the first simulated air-to-air refuelling between Czech Gripens and a French C-135FR in 2012, and the Spanish helicopter aerobatic team Patrulla ASPA in 2013.

In 2014 the show introduced the Special Partner Nation concept — the first was Poland, with thirteen types of equipment — and hosted the first European presentation of the CV-22B Osprey tiltrotor of US special forces, as well as the first attendance by a Czech president, Miloš Zeman. The year of the giants was 2015, with the Dutch KDC-10 tanker, the return of the B-52H, a C-17 Globemaster III of the Strategic Airlift Capability provided by Sweden as partner nation, Jordan's first participation with its female response unit, and the public premiere of the L-39NG demonstrator. In 2016, with Germany as special partner, Italy's Frecce Tricolori flew and Eurofighter Typhoons from all five of their European operators gathered at a single event for the first time. In 2017, with Slovakia as partner, bad weather prevented the debut of the Saudi Hawks, who could only fly a practice sortie on the Monday, and the Slovak government fleet's Tu-154 made its last public appearance. The centenary of Czechoslovakia shaped 2018: more than twenty aircraft in a flypast that ended with a symbolic drop of poppies, and the United States as special partner nation, bringing its M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley vehicles for the first time. In 2019 three aerobatic teams coincided — France's Patrouille de France, Finland's Midnight Hawks and Switzerland's PC-7 Team — aerobatic pilot Martin Šonka flew alongside Captain Ivo Kardoš in a JAS-39 Gripen, and the L-39NG had its world public premiere.

The twentieth edition, in 2020, was held without spectators because of the coronavirus crisis and was broadcast live on Czech television and social networks; there was a "Stronger Together" flypast with Czech and American aircraft, a joint flight of Czech, Hungarian and Swedish Gripens, and a re-enactment of a battle from the Ostrava-Opava operation to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. In 2021 attendance was capped at 40,000 people per day with paid admission and a covid pass; the F-35 Lightning II was seen in the country for the first time and the MQ-9 Reaper drone was publicly presented. In 2022 the restrictions were lifted, a South American air arm made its debut with the Brazilian C-390, the JAS-39 Gripen E had its Central European premiere and the programme closed with the "Welcome to NATO" flypast that symbolically welcomed Finland and Sweden; despite the cold, damp weather 110,000 people attended, 85,000 of them on the Saturday. The 2023 edition was held on 16 and 17 September, with nineteen participating countries and Poland as Special Partner Nation. The 2024 edition, by contrast, had to be cancelled because of the floods that struck the country.

The 2026 event is the 26th NATO Days in Ostrava and the 17th Czech Air Force Days, and takes place on 19 and 20 September at Leoš Janáček Ostrava Airport, with free admission and under the motto "our security is not a given, and without security there is no prosperity". The Special Partner Nation is Germany, taking the role for the second time: it already held it in 2016 and should have repeated in 2024, when the edition was cancelled by the floods. The announcement was made in Berlin on 9 June 2026 by defence ministers Jaromír Zůna and Boris Pistorius; Zbyněk Pavlačík, chairman of Jagello 2000, said the German presentation would bring several premieres.

The confirmed participation list published by the organiser includes, on the German side, Eurofighter Typhoons of Tactical Fighter Wings 31 "Boelcke" and 74, Tornado IDS of Wing 33, an A400M Atlas of Air Transport Wing 62, a CH-53 of Helicopter Wing 64 and an AS532 Cougar, along with the Army's NH90 TTH and Tiger helicopters and heavy equipment such as the Leopard 2A7, Puma, Boxer, Fennek and Panzerhaubitze 2000. The flying displays are to include the RAF Red Arrows with seven Hawk T1s, the Greek Zeus F-16 demo team, Turkey's SOLOTÜRK, a Eurofighter Typhoon of Wing 11 of the Spanish Air and Space Force, three aircraft of the Italian Experimental Flight Regiment (Eurofighter Typhoon, C-27J Spartan and M-346 Master), the Slovak F-16 and UH-60M Black Hawk, the Slovenian PC-9M Hudournik and, from the Czech side, the UH-1Y Venom and the Mi-171Š of the 22nd Helicopter Air Force Base. The static display is announced to feature, among others, an A330 MRTT of the multinational MMF fleet, the Canadian CC-130J Hercules, the Polish FA-50, the Romanian An-26, the Hungarian H145M and Aero Vodochody's L-39 Skyfox. The accompanying programme opens on Friday 18 September in Ostrava with seminars, chats with participants and a concert in the Cathedral of the Divine Saviour; the detailed weekend programme is to be published, according to the organiser, no later than Wednesday 16 September 2026.