UK Royal Air Force (RAF) F-35B Joint Strike Fighters have arrived in Iceland to take on the NATO air policing mission there, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 8 August 2024.
The mission, which involves four 617 Squadron F-35Bs that have been deployed from RAF Marham, will be the first time British F-35Bs will have taken part in any NATO air policing mission.
The deployment to Iceland follows the conclusion in July of a NATO air policing mission to Romania fulfilled by six RAF Typhoon fighters stationed at Romania’s Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base. It is also the first time British fighters have deployed for air policing to Iceland since 2019, when four Typhoons flew 59 training sorties and more than 180 practice intercepts while stationed there.
“The UK is unshakeable in its commitment to NATO,” UK Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard was quoted as saying by the MoD. “With threats increasing and growing Russian aggression, it is vital that we stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies.
“This latest air policing mission in Iceland displays the UK’s ability to operate and deter our adversaries across the alliance’s airspace,” Pollard added.
The NATO allies have periodically deployed fighters to Iceland’s Keflavík Air Base since May 2008 to provide protection for Icelandic airspace. Prior to this, the United States conducted air policing there as part of its military presence in Iceland from 1951-2006.
The Iceland air policing mission is different from other regional assistance missions in that it does not permanently cover Iceland’s airspace, but typically involves a deployment of fighters from a NATO ally for a period of three to four weeks, three times a year.
