The unit of the Czech Air Force named after a Spanish province

The Czech Air Force must have some serious admirers of the US Marines, judging by the helicopters they operate.

The Czech Republic rearms and receives its first AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters
The farewell of the Soviet Mi-24V attack helicopters of the Czech Air Force

In fact, the Czech Republic is the only European operator of both the AH-1Z Viper and the UH-1Y Venom, two types of helicopters used by the US Marines and which apart from those two only have one other operator: Bahrain, which also uses the AH-1Z.

The AH-1Z and UH-1Y are two good aircraft that descend from a saga of helicopters that began with the famous Bell UH-1 Iroquois tactical transport helicopter, also known as the "Huey." This helicopter made its first flight in 1956. Nine years later, an attack helicopter that shared its engine, rotor, and transmission began flying: the AH-1 Cobra, of which the AH-1Z is a direct descendant.

In December 2019, the Czech Republic purchased 8 UH-1Ys and 4 AH-1Zs from the United States to replace its aging Soviet-made Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters. After the Czech Republic donated several of its Mi-24s to Ukraine to help combat the Russian invasion, the US decided to gift 2 additional UH-1Ys and 6 AH-1Zs to the Czech Air Force. The first UH-1Ys and AH-1Zs arrived on Czech soil in July 2023. Deliveries of the original 12 helicopters have already been completed. The 8 helicopters donated by the US will be delivered between 2026 and 2027, after being modernized.

There is a curious fact about these helicopters that will catch the attention of Spanish readers of this blog: these UH-1Y and AH-1Z are assigned to the 22nd Air Base "Biscay" of the Czech Air Force in Náměšť nad Oslavou, a town in the Třebíč district, in the Vysočina region. That unit bears the English exonym for the Spanish province of Vizcaya, which may seem strange considering it is a Czech helicopter unit, but it has a historical explanation.

The former Czechoslovakia was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. During World War II, many Czech airmen came to the United Kingdom and joined the RAF (Royal Air Force), fighting in various Czechoslovak units over the following years. One such unit was the RAF's 311 Czechoslovak Squadron "Biscay". This squadron operated Consolidated B-24 Liberator GR Mk V bombers on anti-submarine patrol missions in the Bay of Biscay. During one of its attacks, it caused a German submarine, U-966, to run aground off the northwest coast of Spain, off Mañón (La Coruña, Galicia), in November 1943, after dropping several depth charges on it. The wreck of the German submarine is still there, near Estaca de Bares.

Following the German defeat, the 311th Squadron became the 6th Czechoslovak Air Division. Its 24th Air Regiment was nicknamed "Biskajsky" (Biscay) and was equipped with British De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk VI aircraft. In 1990, after the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia, President Václav Havel named the 22nd Helicopter Base in Náměšť nad Oslavou "Biscay" in memory of the Czechoslovak RAF's 311th Squadron. And so a Czech helicopter unit today bears a name of Spanish origin.

You can see footage of one of the Czech UH-1Y Venoms during a live-fire exercise here, in a video released by the Czech Armed Forces on Tuesday:

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Photos: Ministerstvo Obrany.