Gripen International, In another historic ‘first’ for the Gripen team, Saturday 26 May saw the public appearance of three European and two NATO Gripen customers for the first time.
The venue for this important event was the Casláv air base in the Czech Republic, which opened its doors to the public, to stage an immensely successful Open Day. Casláv air base Commander Jiri Verner had hoped for around 20,000 visitors to the show, but despite the rain during the morning, he was delighted to announce an attendance of over 40,000 later during the day.
The highlight of the show for the thousands of visitors was the appearance of two Czech Gripen fighters – a single seat ‘C’ version and a two seat ‘D’ version – two of the fourteen Gripens now in full operational service in the Czech Air Force. In addition to the two Czech Gripens Casláv saw the first public appearance of a Hungarian Air Force (HUAF) Gripen ‘D’ fighter, one of the fourteen ordered by Hungary; the Hungarian Gripen had just flown into Casláv from participating in the NATO ‘Spring Flag’ exercise in Italy.
Despite the fact that the HUAF did not have their own technical support team accompanying them to Casláv, the HUAF could rely on the Czech Air Force team for all the support it needed, highlighting once again the advantages of a larger Gripen user group in the region.
The Swedish Air Force completed the triumvirate of Gripen customers, and provided the crowds with a spectacular air display by a Gripen fighter from the F7 Såtenäs Wing in Sweden. In another ‘first’, this was the first time the Swedish Air Force Gripens had participated in an air display at an operational Gripen air base outside its own borders.
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