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 central narrative that all Allies should be prepared to support each other in maintaining collective defense and deterrence. In peacetime, NATO’s air defense 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 defense units in NATO’s eastern member states.

Iceland does not have an air force of its own. Other NATO members support it 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, deploying to Iceland 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 represents 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, said Maj. Gen. Timo Herranen, commander of the Finnish Air Force.

For the Finnish Air Force, the objectives of the deployment are to gain experience in conducting quick reaction alert (QRA) duty in Iceland as part of NATO Air Policing operations, to enhance NATO integration and to develop Finland’s capability to deploy a fighter detachment to an Allied air base.

The Finnish fighter detachment, composed of Finnish Air Force active-duty personnel, will deploy to Keflavík Air Base, located about 50 kilometers from Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. The Lapland Air Wing will carry out the deployment, but the detachment will also include personnel from other units of the Air Force. The Keflavík Air Base will arrange the necessary on-site host nation support.

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, subordinate to the Allied Air Command, will organize a certification event, after which the Finnish fighter detachment will start QRA duties in Iceland.

The Finnish fighter jets will be on QRA duty in Iceland for three weeks in February 2025, working closely 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 of 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. In July 2023, Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets participated in securing the skies during the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. The first major NATO deployment took place in 2024, when the Finnish Air Force participated for two months in the NATO Air Policing and Air Shielding missions in Romania.

Share.
Leave A Reply