The NATO Days in Ostrava, Czech Republic

Report and photos by Peter van den Berg

October 19, 2021

The NATO Days were first held in 2001, celebrating its 20th anniversary for this year’s edition held from September 18 and 19, 2021. Originally being a regional presentation of military, police and rescue forces, the event has since grown into one of the largest military airshows in Central Europe. The show coincides with the Czech Air Force Days, also held at Ostrava.

I was able to capture the arrival of some of its participants in the two days leading up to the event.

We performed a total of 7 flights with a Skyvan, providing every participant with a plethora of opportunities to ‘show their best sides’ and have their photographs taken. This turned out to be quite the challenge due to the low cloud layers and rain. We managed however, flying around in the area on the look-out for better weather to achieve maximum results.

Peter van den Berg

Photojournalist at Aviation Photography Digest

Peter van den Berg is from Coevorden, Netherlands. His love for military aviation began in 1980. The first airbase where he photographed was Soesterberg, Netherlands where the 32 TFS was stationed with the F-15. After photographing many military exercises in Europe over the years, Peter decided to spend the last 15 years visiting Asia and the USA. He regularly writes books for Veldhuis Media Group. Peter has written books about NAS Fallon, Red Flag and the Japanese Airforce.

In addition to publishing books, Peter is working as a teacher for senior secondary vocational education.

Peter uses Nikon equipment.

Peter can be reached at: [email protected]