Brigadier General Petr Tománek has officially become Commander of the Czech Air Force as of 1 July 2026, succeeding Major General Petr Čepelka, who has moved to the position of First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces.
As of today, 1 July 2026, Brigadier General Ing. Petr Tománek has taken over as Commander of the Czech Air Force. The change is part of a wider transition in the senior leadership of the Czech Armed Forces, following the appointment of Lieutenant General Miroslav Hlaváč as Chief of the General Staff. Major General Petr Čepelka becomes First Deputy Chief of the General Staff, with Brigadier General Tománek succeeding him at the head of the Air Force.
Tománek assumes command of the Czech Air Force at a particularly important moment. The service is responsible for protecting the sovereignty and integrity of Czech airspace and performs this core mission within NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence System. Its units also contribute to allied commitments, including NATO Force Model tasks and deployments such as Baltic Air Policing, Air Policing in Iceland, enhanced Forward Presence and the Multinational Force and Observers mission in Sinai.
A fighter pilot by background, Petr Tománek began his military career in 1993. He served as an operational pilot on MiG-21 and Aero L-39 aircraft at Čáslav and later held a series of command and staff positions within the Czech tactical aviation community. He commanded the 212th Tactical Squadron from 2005 to 2009, the 21st Tactical Air Force Wing from 2009 to 2013, and later the 21st Tactical Air Force Base in Čáslav from 2016 to 2020.
His career has also included senior roles beyond the air base level. From 2013 to 2016, he served as Head of the Combat Training Department at the Czech Air Force Command. In 2020, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and subsequently served as Deputy Director of the Capability Planning Section at the Ministry of Defence. Between 2021 and 2024, he was the Czech Defence Attaché to India, Thailand and Indonesia. Since 1 September 2024, he has served as Deputy Commander of the Czech Air Force.
Tománek also has operational experience from Afghanistan, where in 2014 he served as Deputy Director A-3 at NATO Air Training Command in Kabul under ISAF. His decorations include the NATO Non-Article 5 Medal, the Czech Ministry of Defence Medal for Service Abroad, the US Army Commendation Medal and the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence, 3rd Class.
The new Air Force Commander takes over as the Czech Armed Forces continue a major transformation. For the Air Force, the coming years will be defined by the transition toward fifth-generation aviation, the strengthening of air defence, the modernisation of command and control, and the integration of new capabilities into NATO structures. The Czech Republic is acquiring 24 F-35 aircraft, with the first aircraft to be taken over in the United States in 2029, aircraft to arrive in the Czech Republic from 2031, and full readiness expected by 2035.
Air defence is another key priority. At the Czech Air Defence Conference 2026, then Deputy Commander of the Air Force Brigadier General Petr Tománek opened the event together with Brigadier General Jan Farlík of the University of Defence. The conference underlined that the ability to protect airspace is one of the decisive factors of success on today’s battlefield.
Tománek’s appointment therefore brings to the top of the Czech Air Force an officer with long-standing experience in tactical aviation, air base command, capability planning, international defence diplomacy and NATO operations. His task will be to guide the service through one of the most demanding periods in its modern history: maintaining current operational commitments while preparing the Czech Air Force for a new generation of capabilities.
By: Kateřina Urbanova
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