Iceland air policing deployments
Date Nation Unit Aircraft
May 5 to June 30, 2008 France EC 1/2 Mirage 2000C
September 2008 United States 493rd FS F-15C
March 2009 Denmark Esk 727 and 730 F-16AM
June 2009 Norway 332 Skv F-16AM
September 2009 United States unknown F-15
March 2-29, 2010 Denmark Esk 727 and 730 F-16AM
June 1-25, 2010 Germany JG 71 F-4F
September 6-24, 2010 United States 493rd FS F-15C
March 28 to April 30, 2011 Canada 409 Squadron CF-188
June 2011 Norway 332 Skv F-16AM
September 2011 United States unknown F-15
March 5 to April 2, 2012 Germany JG 71 F-4F
May 1 to June 7, 2012 United States 493rd FS F-15C
August 7 to September 20, 2012 Portugal 201 and 301 Esq F-16AM
March 18 to April 28, 2013 Canada 425 Squadron CF-188
June 7 to July 10, 2013 Italy 4°, 36° and 37° Stormo F-2000
November 2013 United States 493rd FS F-15C
January 27 to February 21, 2014 Norway 332 Skv F-16AM
May 16 to June 5, 2014 United States 493rd FS F-15C
October 10 to December 3, 2014 Czech Republic 211. taktická letka JAS 39C
April 2015 United States 493rd FS F-15C
July 27 to August 28, 2015 Czech Republic 211. taktická letka JAS 39C
August 31 to October 2, 2015 Denmark various F-16AM
April 4-28, 2016 United States 131st FS F-15C
May 30 to June 30, 2016 Norway various F-16AM
October 5 to November 2, 2016 Czech Republic 211. taktická letka JAS 39C
March 16 to April 14, 2017 Italy 4°, 36° and 37° Stormo F-2000
May 11 to June 19, 2017 Canada 433 Squadron CF-188A radical restructuring of the Royal
Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 2005 aimed
to free resources for new initiatives and to
enhance maintenance efficiency. As part
of the process the four remaining CF-188
squadrons were merged into two ‘super
squadrons’. Aircraft and personnel were
combined under one command at each
air base; 416 Squadron and 441 Squadron
formed the ‘new’ 409 Squadron at CFB Cold
Lake, Alberta, while 433 Squadron integrated
with 425 Squadron at CFB Bagotville in
Quebec. Responsible for a much larger
pool of aircraft and personnel, the ‘new’
squadrons needed to carefully balance their
training and operations. Activities increased
from 2010 and included airspace protection
of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in
Vancouver, joint operations with the
Canadian Army, Navy and Canadian Special
Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM),
the NORAD tasking, various deployments
to Europe and the Middle East and the
launch of Operation Impact against so-called
Islamic State (IS) in 2014. Managing training,
sending people and aircraft on deployments
and maintaining readiness for upcoming
deployments became logistically almost
impossible at squadron level. This challenge
was recognised and the decision made to
revert to a four-squadron structure. As a
result, 433 Squadron was resurrected within 3
Wing at CFB Bagotville on June 9, 2015, while
401 Squadron resumed flying operations with
4 Wing at CFB Cold Lake on July 20. With this
restructuring Canada aimed to create a more
flexible Hornet fighter force by spreading
different tasks over more squadrons.Large detachment
Six CF-188s were flown non-stop from
CFB Bagotville to Keflavík on May 11
with the help of CC-130 Hercules aerial
refuellers. The Canadian detachment
relieved the six Italian Eurofighter F-2000s
from 4°, 36° and 37° Stormo, which had
been deployed for Task Force Air Northern
Ice from March 16 until April 14.
The Canadian Hornets took up residence
in the shelter area in the southwest of the
airport. Two fully armed aircraft were placed
in the alert facility for ‘Alpha scrambles’
(real, high-priority scrambles), while twoother jets were used for ‘Tango scrambles’
(training). The remaining two aircraft
were used as backup and for training.
Familiarisation, orientation and training
flights began the day after arrival until full
operational capability was reached on May- Together with personnel and aircraft from
433 Squadron and 3 Wing, ATF-Iceland also
involved personnel from the 21st Aerospace
Control and Warning Squadron (AC&W) and
22 Wing from CFB North Bay, Ontario. These
supported the Icelandic Coast Guard (ICG)
that operates the NATO Iceland Air Defence
System (IADS). This includes an air surveillance
system consisting of four subordinate radar
sites and the Control and Reporting Centre
(CRC) at Keflavík Airport nicknamed ‘Loki’ after
a figure from Norse mythology. The radar
sites and CRC feed the so-called recognised
air picture (RAP) into the NATO Integrated Air
and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS)
controlled by NATO’s Allied Air Command
Above: The Canadian Armed Forces have
undertaken operations Ignition and Reassurance
since 2011 to support NATO assurance and
deterrence measures aimed at maintaining stability
and security in Central and Eastern Europe.
Left: In total, ATF-Iceland conducted 270 CF- 188
flying hours during 172 sorties. Following the
mission to Iceland, aircraft and personnel
from 4 Wing at CFB Cold Lake plan to deploy to
Romania in September, also as part of Operation
Reassurance.
An Icelandic controller in the Control and Reporting
Centre ‘Loki’ at Keflavík Airport. The Icelandic
Coast Guard operates the NATO Iceland Air
Defence System that includes an air surveillance
system consisting of four subordinate radar sites.http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #354 SEPTEMBER 2017 // 85