TWO UNIQUE CV-22 Osprey aircraft arrived in Slovakia on August 8 to attend the training of the seventh squadron of the US Air Force that will take place until August 21 at the airport in Sliač, Banská Bystrica Region. The US forces will learn how to land in conditions with poor visibility and high dustiness.
The training is an example of good cooperation between NATO member states, said Slovakia’s Defence Minister Martin Glváč and Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Bratislava Norman Thatcher Scharpf, who visited the airbase in Sliač on August 19.
Glváč told the press that the Defence Ministry tries to offer training spaces in Slovakia to its foreign partners. Though the airport is also used commercially, the minister says that the experience the Slovak soldiers obtain in these trainings is important.
“Our soldiers see how others train; we provide them with logistics, cooperation,” Glváč said, as quoted by the SITA newswire. “They use our centres; we know what we should build and improve so they can be used better.”
Scharpf added that Slovakia has very good military training infrastructure.
“Our unit could train here in real conditions,” he said, as quoted by SITA, adding that the soldiers who attended the training will serve in Africa and use the experience they acquired here in that mission.
Seventy three US soldiers are taking part in the training. The two CV-22 Osprey aircraft, which are in Slovakia for the first time, can take off and land vertically, like helicopters, and are used primarily for airdrops and pick-ups of special forces. They have been used in military and rescue operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, the TASR newswire reported.
Source: SITA, TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
