Austrian National Day Parade, 26 October 2005

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Europe & Cold War Database
Austrian National Day Parade, 26 October 2005
By Tom Cooper
Oct 27, 2005, 03:10

In the frame of 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the Austrian National Day (actually the "Staatsvertrag" - Constitution from 1955, in accordance to which the four great powers of the WWII, the USA, USSR, Great Britain and France granted independence to the "Alpenrepublik"), the Austrian "Bundesheer" staged a giant parade in central Vienna, putting over 200 armoured and almost 500 other vehicles on the Ringstrasse.

Opening the parade was the Austrian Luftstreitkräfte (Air Force), which put up a spirited display of all main types of aircraft and helicopters in service - despite quite a bad weather.

Additional aircraft (including a mock-up of an EF-2000) and helicopters were put on a static display at the Heldenplatz, in the city-centre. Here a photo-report:

The first formation to appear consisted of Bell OH.58B Kiowas....

...followed by two quartets of Bell 212s....

...and seven Sikorsky S-70As (export variant of UH-60 Black Hawk).

The lead S-70, nicely showing details like the navigation radar and drop tanks.

The lead from formation of four PC-6Bs.

Dem hat's ord'ntlich g'schauk'lt...! - was the commentary from one of FLstk pilots about what happened to a member of the PC-6B formation: hit by a gust of wind, the pilot needed considerable skills to keep the plane on course - not to talk about in formation!

The lead of two FLstk Hercules transports. Guess they have had it easier to fly under these conditions....

...certainly, the two transports looked marvelously while pulling up and away into the low-hanging clouds.

Another beautiful sight was a formation of ten Saab 105Ö jet trainers - some of which are modified for reconnaissance purposes.

A farewell of a mytical dynosaur: seven J-35Ö Drakens did an accelerating fly-past over Vienna - and then said farewell in the only way proper for this type of aircraft: by engaging afterburners and accelerating high up into the - low hanging clouds....With better weather it would have been a beautifull sight: this way, it was a very loud experience: note that the planes are engaging afterburner already!

A formation of seven F-5Es, all leased from Switzerland to bridge the gap between the Draken and Eurofighter. The type is meanwhile in routine service with Fliegerstreitkräfte, standing alert at Graz Tallerhof.

Also an unusual sight: four EF-2000 Typhoon (in Austria still universally called "Eurofighter") came at the end: although described to the public as "first four Eurofighters", these were still not the first four Austrian Typhoons: their delivery seems to be postponned for few months longer.

One of FLstk. SA.316B Alouette IIIs was permanently circling over the centre of the city...

The Fliegerstreitkräfte proudly displayed also one of their Flamingo radars....

...as well as a fire-control unit for 35mm anti-aircraft guns.

Another interesting appearance was this "motorized variant" of the Mistral MANPADs. The Mistral was the first guided missile introduced in Austrian service. The purchase of the system came in response to countless penetrations of the Austrian airspace by Serbian fighters, during the war in former Yugoslavia - and required the change of the same constitution that was celebrated at this opportunity, but which prevented the Bundesheer for using guided missiles at earlier times!

One of SA.316B Alouette IIIs was also on static display. For "every-day" tourists it might appear unusual to see them at Heldenplatz, directly in front of the National Bibliotheque. Note the FLIR-turret hanging on starboard side: the type is deployed extensively for monitoring the border to Hungary and Slovakia.

If you look for oldtimers, go Austria: the FLstk put also this old Alouette II on display. It is still in excellent condition.

The fin of the J-35Ö Draken "03", that was at static display in the middle of the Heldenplatz. It was good to have an opportunity to see this venerable plane one last time.

"....Panzer vor dem Parlament...." - is definitely an extremely unusual sight in Austria. Given the fierce criticisim the Bundesheeer and related decisions of the Austrian Government are receiving from the political opposition at each and every opportunity, it is rather a surprise that specific parties permitted this kind of a show to be put up. The sight of Kuerasier "Panzerjäger" and Leopard 2 MBTs driving down the Ringstrasse and passing the Parliament at something like 30km/h was certainly turning stomachs of several "pacifist" (read: clueless) politicians upside down. At the times the security of the country is threatened by new kinds of threats and emergencies, there should actually be no space for diletantism in the matters concerning Austrian defence capabilities. Compared with the condition of most equipment displayed at the last similar opportunity, in 1995, this "show of force" brought a kind of relief: almost every single piece of equipment shown was upgraded and equipped with advanced technology.

The end of the parade was marked by four Allies - well, at least at the times of WWII - parading their colours in front of the parliament. A marvelous sight of guard-troops and their flags came into being.