Icelandic Air policing

Airborne Surveillance and Interception Capabilities to Meet Iceland’s Peacetime Preparedness Needs

The focus of this mission is to meet Iceland’s peacetime preparedness needs to establish air surveillance and interception coverage over Iceland and maintain the integrity of NATO airspace.

The mission is specific and unique to Iceland. Given its geographic location, Allies, in conjunction with the Icelandic authorities, have agreed to maintain a periodic presence of NATO fighter aircraft based at Keflavik to help keep Icelandic airspace safe and secure.

The mission to meet Iceland’s peacetime preparedness needs usually involves a deployment of fighter aircraft from Allied nations, typically of around three to four weeks, three times a year.