Czechoslovak Air Force The Czechoslovak Air Force ( " Československé vojenské letectvo " ) was the air force branch of the military of Czechoslovakia . It was known as the Czechoslovak Army Air Force ( " Československé letectvo " ) from 1918 to 1939 . In 1993 , it was divided into the Czech Air Force and the Slovak Air Force . History . Interwar period ( 1918 – 1939 ) . For a modern nation surrounded by potentially hostile neighbors , without access to the ocean , the Czechoslovak leadership needed to build a capable air force . So was born the motto " Air is our sea " . The Czechoslovak government between the wars balanced a home - grown aviation industry with licensing engine and aircraft designs from allied nations . Several major aircraft companies , and a few engine companies , thrived in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s . One well - known engine manufacturer was A . S . Walter located in Prague . The Aero Company ( Aero továrna letadel ) , was located in the Vysočany quarter of Prague . Its mixed construction ( wood , metal and fabric covering ) and all - metal aircraft were competitive in the early 1930s ; however , by 1938 , only its MB . 200 ( a licensed Bloch design ) was not totally obsolete . The Avia Company ( " Avia akciová společnost pro průmysl letecký Škoda " ) , a branch of the enormous Škoda Works ( " Škodovy závody " ) heavy machinery and military industrial enterprise , was different . Founded in 1919 in an old sugar factory in the eastern Prague suburbs of Letňany and Čakovice , Avia made entire airplanes , including motors , which were usually licensed Hispano - Suiza designs . The standard Czechoslovak pursuit plane of the late 1930s , the B - 534 reached a total production of 514 units . It was one of the last biplane fighters in operational use , and also one of the best ever produced . The state - controlled Letov ( " Vojenská továrna na letadla Letov " ) was also situated in Letňany . It employed about 1 , 200 workers in the late 1930s , and it manufactured the Š - 328 biplane , of which over 450 were produced . The entire airframe was welded together , not bolted or riveted . The Letov factory was the only Czechoslovak plant that manufactured metal propellers . Second World War ( 1939 – 1945 ) . During this time , Czechoslovakia was divided into the " Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren " ( Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ) – a rump state directly controlled by Nazi Germany – and the Slovak Republic – a German puppet state . Many Czechoslovak pilots successfully escaped to Poland and France , where they helped to fight against the Nazi " blitzkrieg " during the Battle of France . Later , in Great Britain , the Inspectorate of the Czechoslovak Air Force was established on July 12 , 1940 , as a co - ordinating and liaison body . Brigadier General Dr Karel Janoušek was appointed to head the Inspectorate by the British Ministry of Defence . Janousek joined the ranks of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve ( RAFVR ) and was given the rank of Acting Air Commodore ( and the RAF eventually promoted him to Air Marshal ) . Czechoslovakian airmen were enlisted into the RAFVR and the formation of Czech fighter and bomber squadrons within the Royal Air Force was put in hand . Czech fighter ace Josef František became arguably the best top scoring allied fighter pilot of the Battle of Britain . Other Czech and Slovak pilots continued to fight against the Germans in the Soviet Union . Under German rule all Czechoslovak aircraft where absorbed into the Luftwaffe – and the huge Czechoslovak manufacturing base was converted to produce German aircraft and engines . After the end of the war in late 1945 four Czech RAF squadrons , Numbers 310 , 311 , 312 , and 313 were all dispatched to Czechoslovakia and became part of the Czech armed forces . After the division of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany in 1939 , Slovakia was left with a small air force ( the Slovak Air Force ( 1939 - 1945 ) ) composed primarily of Czechoslovakian combat aircraft . This force defended Slovakia against Hungary in 1939 , and took part in the invasion of Poland in support of Germany . During the Second World War , the Slovak Air force was charged with the defence of Slovak airspace , and , after the invasion of Russia , provided air cover for Slovak forces fighting against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front While engaged on the Eastern Front , Slovakia ’ s obsolete biplanes were replaced with German combat aircraft , including the Messerschmitt Bf 109 . The air force was sent back to Slovakia after combat fatigue and desertion had reduced the pilots ' effectiveness . Slovak air units took part in the Slovak National Uprising against Germany from late August 1944 . 1946 – 1988 . Towards the end of the war , General Alois Vicherek ( ) left Britain for the Soviet Union , where he was supposed to take over command of the Czechoslovak Air Force in the USSR . However he only arrived on May 1 , 1945 , when the war was almost over . Vicherek was happy to serve an Eastern Bloc Czechoslovakia , and on May 29 , 1945 , he was appointed the Commander of the Czechoslovak Air Force . From 1955 Czechoslovakia was a member of the member of the Warsaw Pact . Because of this , the Czechoslovak Air Force used Soviet aircraft , doctrines and tactics . Mostly Mikoyan - Gurevich aircraft ( MiGs ) were bought . MiG - 15 , MiG - 19 and MiG - 21F fighters were produced under licence ; in 1970s , MiG - 23 MF were bought , followed by MiG−23MLs and MiG - 29 s in 1980s . In 1951 the 1st , 2nd , and 3rd Air Defence Districts of State Territory were created , at about the same time as the creation of the 15th Fighter Air Corps . The 15th Fighter Air Corps controlled the 1st , 3rd , 5th , and 166th Fighter Air Divisions at various times ; the 166th Fighter Air Division later became the 2nd Fighter Air Division . From 1964 to 1969 the 10th Air Army included the 46th Transport Air Division , of two regiments of helicopters and a transport regiment . Reportedly from January 1976 , the 7th Air Army was disbanded and replaced by the State Air Defence Command with the 2nd and 3rd Air Defence Divisions , which existed until 1990 . The State Air Defence Command moved from Prague to Stará Boleslav in 1981 . In May 1987 , two Czech Air Force jets were scrambled to try to bring down a Czechoslovak engineer attempting to escape his home country via a home - built ultralight aircraft . After flying about 10 miles to the West German border , the refugee ' s aircraft ran out of fuel , and he landed safely in a Bavarian forest , just before the Czech fighters could intercept him . During the 1980s and early 1990s , the Czechoslovak Air Force consisted of the state air defence command , with air defence fighters , surface to air missile s , and air defence radars , and the 10th Air Army , responsible for ground forces support . The state air defence command had 2nd Air Defence Division ( Brno ) with 8th Fighter Air Regiment , radars , and surface to air missiles , and the 3rd Air Defence Division ( Zatec ) with the 1st ( Ceske Budejovice ) , 5th ( Dobřany ) , and 11th Fighter Air Regiments ( Zatec ) , and the 71st Anti - Aircraft Missile Brigade and 185th Anti - Aircraft Missile Regiment . 8th Fighter Air Regiment was based at Ostrava ( Mošnov ) from 1959 until 1 April 1985 , whereupon it relocated to Brno ( Tuřany ) . It was equipped with the MiG - 21 from 1965 to 1991 . 1st Fighter Air Regiment at České Budějovice was equipped with MiG - 21s from 1964 , and was disbanded in 1992 . The 10th Air Army had two air divisions and a total of six regiments of fighters and attack aircraft . There were also two reconnaissance regiments , two transport regiments , three training regiments , and two helicopter regiments . In 1990 the 10th Air Army , with headquarters at Hradec Kralove , comprised the 1st Fighter Air Division ( HQ Bechyne , included the 9th Fighter Air Regiment at the same base until 30 June 1990 ) , the 34th Fighter Bomber Air Division ( HQ Caslav ) , the 47th Reconnaissance Air Regiment ( Ostrava - Mosnov ) , the 10th Signal Regiment , the 11th Helicopter Regiment , the 1st Composite Transport Air Regiment , and the 30th Attack Air Regiment ( Pardubice Airport , with Su - 25Ks ) . It was disbanded on 1 October 1990 and succeeded by the 1st Mixed Air Corps . Between 1945 and 1968 the Czechoslovak Air Force operated several regiments from Hradcany airfield : To the break up of Czechoslovakia . In November 1989 the communist leaders and guidelines fell across Czechoslovakia . The two parliaments of the two new states the Czech republic and Slovakia , dissolved their union on 1 January 1993 . The assets of the former air force were divided 2 : 1 in the Czech favor , and thus the Czech Air Force and the Slovak Air Force were formed . The 18 MiG - 29s then in service were divided 1 : 1 between the new countries . A 1992 - 93 reorganisation resulted in a completely new structure of the Czech Air Force which came into effect in the course of 1994 . One of the first units which closed down as a direct result of the transfer of a large number of aircraft to Slovakia was the 9th Fighter Bomber Air Regiment ( 9 . SBoLP ) at Bechyně .