KEFLAVIK,
Iceland - Today, March 17, 2017 six Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon
fighter aircraft deployed to Keflavik Air Base, Iceland to provide Airborne
Surveillance and Interception Capabilities to meet Iceland’s Peacetime
Preparedness Needs on behalf of NATO.
The jets took
off from 4th Fighter Wing in Grosseto, Tuscany, and flew over 3,000 kilometres before
touching down at the air base in the south west of Iceland. En route they were
air-to-air refuelled from an Italian Air Force KC 767 tanker aircraft.
"The Iceland
deployment is both a training and an operational mission reflecting the spirit
of solidarity among the members of the Atlantic Alliance; it allows to maintain
and test the standardized security procedures within NATO,” said General
Claudio Graziano, Chief of the Italian Defence Staff. "This air defence
operation in Icelandic airspace is a clear example of cost-effective management
and sharing of resources among the NATO allies."
From next
week on the Italian pilots will conduct familiarization flight in the Icelandic
airspace controlled by the Iceland Coast Guard Control and Reporting Centre
Loki at Keflavik. Next week they will be certified by NATO’s Combined Air
Operations Centre Uedem, Germany, to fly Air Policing missions in the airspace
of the Ally in the High North.
During the
ensuing three weeks the Italian Air Force detachment will accomplish this
peacetime preparedness mission and redeploy to the home bases around mid-April.
The defensive
peacetime deployment to Iceland is conducted in all transparency and openness.
It underlines that NATO forces are capable and adaptive and bring to bear a
high degree of interoperability.
Story by Allied Air Command Public Affairs
Office coordinated with Italian Air Force