The Slovak Air Force is the aviation and air-defense branch of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic. It grew from Slovakia's post-1993 armed-forces structure and operates fighter, transport, helicopter, radar, and air-defense capabilities from bases including Sliac, Malacky-Kuchyna, and Presov. For AeroVia astronaut records it is especially relevant as Ivan Bella's military aviation affiliation before and after his 1999 research-cosmonaut flight to Mir.