of their own. Iceland belongs to that group. The country
does not even have an air force of its own. Because of
that NATO has been holding rotational QRA duty there
since 2008, to ensure airspace security. Before 2008
USAF was stationed in Iceland (Iceland Defense Forces).
The base that USAF was using was employing fighters to
protect the Icelandic airspace. The unit was disbanded
in 2006, with the jets returning to CONUS. This meant
that Iceland would not remain in possession of fighter
aircraft. Hence, NATO decided to launch the rotational
Iceland Air Policing. The primary goal of Iceland
presence, initially, was to carry out patrol sorties. As of
2013, alongside patrol and QRA duties, training aspect
has been added.
Each of the components is stationed at the Icelandic
Coast Guard base in Keflavik. Usually 4-8 jets are
deployed to Iceland. France, Denmark, Norway, the United
States of America, Canada, Czech Republic or Italy have
AVIATION
