Finnish Air Force to participate in the NATO Icelandic Air Policing mission
Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets will surveil and protect Icelandic airspace for the first time as a NATO member in February 2025.
NATO’s collective peacetime missions are part of the Alliance’s main idea that all Allies are prepared to support each other in maintaining collective defence and deterrence. In peacetime, NATO’s air defence tasks are carried out through the Air Policing and Air Shielding missions. Member states’ air forces secure the integrity of Allied airspace through the standing Air Policing mission. The Air Shielding mission, on the other hand, consists of an increased presence and exercise activity of fighter jets and ground-based air defence units in NATO’s eastern member states.
Iceland does not have an air force of its own; therefore, other NATO members support Iceland with airborne surveillance and interception capabilities to meet Iceland’s peacetime preparedness needs. Finland will participate in the NATO Icelandic Air Policing mission for the first time as a member of the Alliance in early 2025. The Finnish detachment to be deployed to Iceland will consist of four F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets and 50 airmen.
‒ Finland’s participation in the NATO Icelandic Air Policing mission will strengthen the Alliance’s presence in the High North. The deployment will be a concrete example of Nordic cooperation and the Finnish Air Force’s capability to carry out missions throughout NATO territory. The Norwegian and Danish Air Forces have regularly contributed to the Air Policing mission in Iceland, so this is a natural task for Finland as well. It is in line with Finland’s objectives that NATO has recognized the strategic importance of the High North, says Commander of the Finnish Air Force, Major General Timo Herranen.
‒ For the Finnish Air Force, the objectives of the deployment are to gain experience in conducting Quick Reaction Alert duty in Iceland as part of NATO Air Policing operations, to enhance our NATO integration and to develop our capability to deploy a fighter detachment to an Allied air base. Last summer, the Finnish Air Force operated in Romania in the southern part of NATO. Now we will take our turn in the High North, demonstrating that we are an active, responsible and professional ally, Herranen continues.
Finnish fighter jets on Quick Reaction Alert duty at Keflavík Air Base
The Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Directorate for Defence, is responsible for the country’s defence. The Icelandic Coast Guard operates the Keflavík Air Base, the Control and Reporting Centre Keflavík as well as remote radar and communications sites across Iceland.
The Finnish fighter detachment, composed of Finnish Air Force active-duty personnel, will deploy to Keflavík Air Base, located approximately 50 kilometres from Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. Lapland Air Wing will carry out the deployment, but the detachment will also include personnel from other units of the Air Force. The necessary on-site host nation support will be arranged by the Keflavík Air Base.
The transportation of the detachment’s material and personnel as well as the ferry flights of the F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets from Finland to Iceland will take place during January 2025. At the end of January, the Combined Air Operations Centre Uedem (CAOC Uedem), subordinate to the Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), will organise a certification event, after which the Finnish fighter detachment will start Quick Reaction Alert duties in Iceland.
The Finnish fighter jets will be on QRA duty in Iceland for three weeks in February 2025, working closely together with Icelandic personnel at the Control and Reporting Centre Keflavík. The QRA duty will be conducted with armed F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets equipped with air-to-air missiles, cannons and countermeasures. The QRA jets will be equipped in Iceland in the same way as in Finland for the territorial integrity surveillance and protection operations. The fighter jets and most of the personnel will return to Finland at the end of February, and the detachment’s material will follow during March.
The participation in the NATO Icelandic Air Policing mission will be the third NATO deployment for the Finnish Air Force. Already in July 2023, Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets were involved in securing the skies during the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. The first major NATO deployment took place in summer 2024, when the Finnish Air Force participated for two months in the NATO Air Policing and Air Shielding missions in Romania.
