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UPDATE: Former NATO Base at Keflavik, Iceland

Greetings all. As many of you are aware there has been much speculation and media coverage of US Navy's decisions to review options for Maritime Patrol Aircraft operations in Iceland. I've been in touch with my good friend Fridthor Eydal, a Public Relations official for Isavia ltd, an Icelandic government owned national airports and air navigation service provider that runs the airport. Fridthor was the Icelandic Base Public Relations Officer for the NATO Base during my last tour of duty in Iceland. I thought his insights were very informative and not at all like the build up we are hearing from our own media outlets. He gave me permission to share. I also have a few pictures of the old P-3 Hanger which is in remarkably good condition and P-3s that have been operating out of Iceland in the last year. I can share those privately if you'd like. email me at jim_Donovan53@yahoo.com I've also posted them on the NAVFAC Kef Facebook page.

- Jim

Hi, Jim, good to hear from you.

Stories about the Navy coming back to Keflavik are somewhat exaggerated. For eight years after NASKEF was closed, the Navy shied away from any attempts at reconnecting it with the place. NAVEUR refused even to have anything to do with the joint and combined exercise Northern Viking that was held here a couple of times after the base closed, and is now essentially a minute part of a USNAVEUR desktop communications exercise.

In the meantime, the Air Force, principally the 48th Fighter Wing at Lakenheath in England, has participated on a regular basis in a NATO program that three times a year provides deployments of a handful of fighter jets to Keflavik for an exercise in Air Policing by the air forces of several participating nations. This operation is at the insistence of the Government of Iceland and the Iceland Coast Guard still operates the Iceland Air Defense Radar System that was installed with NATO funding. Iceland refused to give up the system at the closure of the base. That’s a part of a longer story about how many in Iceland argued, and still do, that the withdrawal of the fighter jets from Iceland was an incorrect decision by the US under the bilateral defense agreement.

My company, Isavia ltd, is the government owned national airports and air navigation service provider of both services to deployed and transiting forces and is thus involved in this activity. The Coast Guard operates some of the former NASKEF service infrastructure including the old P-3 hangar – 831. However, there hasn’t been much use for this mammoth facility which sits idle most of the time and is a financial millstone around the CG’s neck. The CG has long been trying to attract interest within NATO for use of the facilities and welcome any paying military customers, except Russia, of course.

The USAFE Commander visited with us last year and expressed interest in increased 48 FW training deployments to KEF for convenience, but we have not seen any further plans for that yet. The airspace is attractive, but the ever changing E/W commercial transit traffic through the area affects long term planning, but with flexibility within the day, it can be done.

Thus, it was an exciting prospect for the GOI and the Coast Guard when the VP community two years ago was forced to return to the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap to head off a Russian submarine that was on the loose. This has been repeated on a few occasions since then by aircraft from Sigonella, Jacksonville and Canada. Anticipating some more doses of the same remedy, the Navy VP operators started to look for ways to conduct business more effectively with small quick reaction and short deployment detachment. They have since gone around the UK, Norway and Iceland looking for a potential Main Operating Base (MOB) and a Permanent Detachment Site (PDS).

They now seem to have settled on the MOB at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland and a PDS or some other form of a small unmanned readiness facility at Keflavik for use by the VP squadron assigned to TF-67 at Sigonella when required to operate off the west side of Iceland at least. The Brits have had no MPA capability for many years now but in order not to lose the skill they‘ve had a deal with the Navy to employ RAF personnel in VP squadrons until they reacquire the aircraft capability. The British Government have just recently decided to purchase a squadron of P-8‘s that they intend to base at Lossiemouth.

Hangar 831 was completely reconstructed during the late 1990‘s for NATO money, and remains on the NATO infrastructure list with several air defense related facilities at KEF per GOI decision. After the renovation it saw very little use as P-3 deployments to Kef were stopped in 2003, and the OPSCOM had already moved to a new hardened COC facility and CFK offices that built next to the IDF headquarters. The hangar is still perfect for P-3 deployments, but will not fit the tail of the new P-8 Poseidon that‘s replacing the P-3. The P-8 is essentially a Boeing B-737 800 with the wings of the 900 series aircraft.

The USG has decided to fund a lot more European Reassurance Initiative Programs in the 2017 budget and the VP community has simply jumped on the bandwagon and secured a tiny part of that money to modify the hangar so the P-8 tail will fit inside and aircraft of the type can be serviced there plus some taxiway and parking apron repair. Late last year when P-3’s were operating here, they left a mobile tactical support suite in place and have since assigned two sailors to KEF to maintain readiness. So, in that respect, you might say that the Navy has returned, but only in a similar fashion as the Army maintained presence in the old days with two IDF staff officers. But of course it’s all for convenience since the funding became up for grabs, is my view. Nobody is going to come back to Iceland unless forced to by some serious course of events.

The prevailing lack of opportunities to collect acoustic data on the new Russian submarines in the deep water environment and the necessity to test the P-8 systems against them as the post P-3 systems eventually progress will of course be a driving factor in determining the future of operations at Kef. Regenerated activity hinges of course on the will and approval of the GOI who seem only eager to please in order to restore visibility within the US administration, which was so clearly lost after the closure of the base in 2006. However, they are already catching some flak from military base opponents again as you can imagine and will no doubt want to tread lightly. Next year is election year and indications are that the current pro-NATO regime may not necessarily survive.

Best regards to all,

Fridthor

Re: UPDATE: Former NATO Base at Keflavik, Iceland

Very interesting Jim, I have seen a few articles about the Air Force going back to Kef. So let us know when they want to start up the NavFac again, I will be the first to volunteer.

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