British F-35B jets have commenced their deployment to Iceland as part of an air policing mission, marking the first time these advanced aircraft have participated in a NATO air policing deployment.

The mission, involving RAF pilots from 617 Squadron, is aimed at preserving the security of Allied skies through NATO’s permanent peacetime air policing.

This collective task involves the continuous presence of fighter aircraft and crews, ready to react swiftly to potential airspace violations.

Minister for the Armed Forces, Luke Pollard, highlighted the significance of this mission, stating, “The UK is unshakeable in its commitment to NATO. With threats increasing and growing Russian aggression, it is vital that we stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies. This latest air policing mission in Iceland displays the UK’s ability to operate and deter our adversaries across the alliance’s airspace.”

This deployment follows a successful mission in Romania, where six Typhoon fighter jets and over two hundred personnel were stationed at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base to defend NATO’s eastern border. In Iceland, four cutting-edge F-35B jets from 617 Squadron will now patrol the airspace, having travelled from RAF Marham.

The F-35B Lightning is a multi-role combat aircraft equipped with advanced sensors, mission systems, and stealth technology. Its stealth capability makes it difficult for enemy radar systems to detect, providing a significant tactical advantage in various operational scenarios.

Group Captain John Butcher, Lightning Force Commander, noted the significance of this deployment in a news release, saying, “This will be the first time that the Lightning Force has deployed to contribute to NATO Air Policing, and will no doubt once again prove the flexibility that this platform offers as it demonstrates its capability to operate from both a land and maritime environment.”

The last time British jets undertook air policing in Iceland was in 2019, when four Typhoon jets conducted 59 training sorties and more than 180 practice intercepts.

Alongside Typhoons and Voyagers, which conduct air policing in the UK through the Quick Reaction Alert Force based at RAF Coningsby, Lossiemouth, and Brize Norton, the RAF points out that it ensures the protection of UK and Allied airspace 24/7, 365 days a year.

At the UK Defence Journal, we aim to deliver accurate and timely news on defence matters. We rely on the support of readers like you to maintain our independence and high-quality journalism. Please consider making a one-off donation to help us continue our work. Click here to donate. Thank you for your support!

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
Twitter

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

55 COMMENTS

      • Martin has a fair point though, we have a paonfully small F-35b force. We can currently field just one squadron. Yes, a second one is forming, but at 5 or 6 aircraft deliveroes a year, it will likely be 2027 or 2038 before both squadrons are fully equipped.

        We might wonder why F-35s rather than Typhoons to Iceland, given the air defence role. Shortage of Typhoon aircraft?

        Our minimalist Typhoon force has, on paper, something like 63 front-line aircraft. The MOD variously claims that we have 7 or 8 front-line Typhoon squadrons. We don’t, we have 5. They are down from 12 combat-ready aircraft per squadrons to 10. When we send flights to Cyprus, Estonia, etc.,
        these are detached from the home-based squadrons, so squadron strength.falls from 10 to 7 or 8, which is tiny foe defence of the UK.

        We have such a small combat air apability now, we really need to be ordering another batch of
        20 Typhoons and ordering some F-35As to fill the interdiction capability gap left by the premature withdrael and non-replacement of Tornado.

        We should cap the less-capablel, more expensive B version of the F-35 at 64 aircraft/3 squadrons and switch future orders to the A version..There is time to do so before the first Tempest flight, we need to crack on with it and get 200+ combat aircraft on the books, our tiny force of 140 aircraft, once Typhoon F2 is withdrawn next year, barely keeps us in the NATO top 10 of combat aircraft.

        • Did you pick 64 F35Bs out of the air. We need 74 aircraft to maintain 4 Squadrons, 3 Frontline and 1 training, the spare 27 or so are rotating through maintenance to keep the other squadrons at full strength

          Would also point out we haven’t even ordered the 2nd batch of 27 F35Bs yet so fat chance of more typhoons or F35As

          • Did I pick 64 F-35Bs out of the air?

            Nope. 64 allows for 3 squadrons of 10 frontline aircraft, rather than 12. Same as the Typhoon squadrons, which are a rather more critical asset.

            64 aircraft gives the following (Frontline/total):

            – Wing commander, 1/2
            – Squadron 1, 10/17
            – Squadron 2, 10/17
            – Squadron 3, 10/17
            OEU, 0/3
            OCU, 0/8.

            Total: 31/64

            The F-35A has longer range then the B, better rate of climb, almost certainly better top speed, double the munitions load… and is 25% less expensive than the B.

            It is basically in its best role an interdiction/SEAD aircraft, which should fill the yawning gap in our air power left by the non-replacement of Tornado.

            The B is a short range, low ordnance, tac air fighter. The bigger priorities in the air power picture are air defence, which Typhoon fulfills, and an interdiction capability, which the F-35A would provide.

            64 Bs is more than enough to generate a squadron for the (one deployable) aircraft carrier and to provide close air support for the war-fighting division.

            None of above picked out from the air, all based on the correct balance of British air power. Allocating 40% of our air power to supporting one rather vulnerable carrier – as is the present plan – makes no military sense at all. Our airpower needs cannot and must not be dictated by the Navy’s quest for out-of-area adventures, when the pressing military threats are much closer to home and primarily need a strengthened air force and ground forces,

          • I think our best bet is to replace the T1 typhoon jets with FGR4, I don’t think introducing F35A would be a good move (if we had endless budget it would be a great move), we have F35B integrated within the RAF and FAA and we just need to accelerate further.

          • I think more FGR4 should be on the card’s I agree.Interesting Spain are up grading they old Typhoons, Germany are buying more new Typhoons and I believe Italy have order more.

          • If a war broke out we would almost certainly look to deploy both carriers in conjunction with Nato, 3 squadrons is barely enough for one carrier, deploying 1 squadron to it is barely a token effort but clearly you’re anti carrier so I’m not going to bother discussing it.
            Also the carrier will only be vulnerable because you decide it can only have 1 squadron.

            Also F35B is not Short range, what a ridiculous suggestion. There are longer range variants but the F35B cannot be counted as a short range aircraft.

            Would also point out if any attack where to be directed at the UK the carriers would be in a far better position to intercept it away from home, and F35B is perfectly adequate for the Nato patrol duties, the F35A doesn’t carry any more Amraams than it.

            Either way you’re talking fantasy thoufh, we have 27 more F35s bring procured if that’s not slashed, you’re not going to be able to create a credibly sized F35A force out of that.

          • Hugo, I am intrigued by your concept of both carriers putting to sea with full air wings.

            There seems a propensity in naval circles to cast a blind eye to one big salient fact, viz:
            The F-35Bs are a JOINT force, which has to provide
            a) RAF close air support for the Army’s warfighting division, and
            b) RAF/FAA carrier aviation.

            If we eventually have 74 of the blessed Bs, with 36 frontline (3 sqns of 12), it would be reasonable to assume that Army CAS would generally expect to get 18 and the Carriers the other 18.

            Yet repeatedly we get browbeaten that the RN needs 3 or 4 squadrons all to itself. Where are all these aircraft to come from? – we are only ordering 74 and in my book, that is already 10 too many – and at the expense of more capable interdiction aircraft

            There seems to be an assumption in said circles that the RAF will of course pay for them, as they are in the RAF budget, but when the chips are down, the carriers will sail off into the eastern sunset with all 36 of them, saying swivel on it to the other services.

            There is no plan to operate both carriers at the same time, never has been. There are not enough escorts, submarines, naval helicopters or RFAs to form a second CSG and not enough aircraft to form a second air wing.

          • They’re only joint because the RAf repeatedly tries to get rid of carrier aviation and in turn destroys the Navies ability to support fixed wing aviation.

            Also we couldnt support 2 CSGs in the falklands but both carriers sailed in the same group, wouldn’t have had enough aircraft otherwise.
            I almost certainly could see the same happening in a conflict. Or in conjunction with Nato creating a 2nd CSG, so yes we should be aiming to have enough aircraft for both.
            Also I never said full airwings, and with only 74 aircraft that’s never going to happen anyway even on 1 carrier

          • So those 10 aircraft too much were getting, if we cut those what would you get, because there’s no extra cash lying around to add to that saving, all we’re hearing from this review is cuts, may not even get the 27 F35Bs that were supposed to be contracted this year.

          • A little but still not worth only getting a handful of them rather than focusing on the existing fleet.

          • Indeed it is. The flyaway cost for the A was a bit over £60m, the B £80+m, now I gather £85m.

            So for the price of 40 Bs, we could have 52 As instead. And a more capable aircraft too!

          • No Robert, they’re not.

            We can go through them line by line if you wish.

            The big, simple picture is that the B has the handicap of lugging around a heavy lift fan, which impacts heavily on its performance.

            Combat radius… weapon bay size and limitations… and logically, given.that it has the same engine as the A, but the additional lift fan weight to carry, lower speed and poorer rate of climb, no matter what figures Google tells you.

            When you compare the mass of orders for the A versus the very limited export sales of the B, it says rather conclusively that the A is seen as the.air combat choice, the B as specifically a “Harrier carrier’ for naval use only.

            The UK is the only country using the B for its air force. I don’t think we know something that the other 15 customers have missed! In a nutshell, the RN agitated for a carrier or two, with a VTOL wing, which HMG gave into..But the cost imvolved ruled out a proper interdiction capability to replace Tornado, so now we have an unbalanced air force with limited attack/SEAD capability, all so that we can parade the oceans with our showpiece carrier!

            Quel folly.

          • The A does not carry more weapons than the B. It can carry larger weapons internally. 2000lb class v the B’s 1000lb class. The RAF/RN doesn’t use the 2000lb Paveway 3 anymore, so matters not. 8 SPEAR 3’s will fit internally once it enters service. Other nations don’t have a fleet of Typhoons in service. F35B does provide SEAD/DEAD capability with its APG-81 radar with electronic attack capability. Soon to be APG-85 radar. Top speed for all F35 varients is the same. M1.6. The F35A does have the best all round agility, but it can’t land on a carrier. The B brings 5th gen capability to sea without needing a Nimitz class. The F35B carrys more fuel than a Typhoon. The range issue, which isn’t an issue, is blown out of all proportion. We can take a 5th gen all aspect stealth, supersonic, agile VSTOL fighter with the world’s most advanced radar and avionics, and put them were the hell we like. At sea, from a traditional land base, or asture airfields/rough ground. The RAF was never getting a proper Tornado replacement. StormShadow and Brimstone was integrated onto Typhoon to fill the capability gap. The only way we will buy F35A is if Tempest gets cancelled.

        • The numbers are ridiculous, aren’t they. Too small, no matter how capable.
          On F35A, I believe it is Tempest, or F35A, not both.
          The Combat Air Budget is not there for both.
          The fiddle in removing the last 3 Sqns of GR4s and “replacing them” with in service Typhoons but expanding the Sqns from 5 to 7 has really hit us.
          We had 23 Fast Jet Sqns when Labour came to power in 97 and 12 when the Tories came in in 2010.
          There is the primary collapse.

          • That’s because back then, when one dared suggest that somewhere down the line, we’d have to square up to a peer threat again, you would get laughed at. “Assymetric warfare is the future” they all said, including senior military figures around the Western world. See also the drawdown in heavy armour.
            Made some sense at the time, but there’s hindsight for you…
            Luckily, a proper force of F-35s is capable of completing missions that 30-40 years ago would have taken a huge strike package, twice or three times larger in number. I might even be underselling the Lightning’s capability there.

          • Absolutely. You remind me how savagely combat air was cut under Blair/Brown. Some of it was the continuation of the planned 25% cuts agreed between NATO and WARPAC, but the rest was just plain irresponsible.

            When I push the need for 20 more Typhoon FGR4s and the purchase of F-35As, I am thinking in terms of the mooted increase.to 2.5% of GDP. I think that is a genuine intention, but it will likely be slow coming and may be a gradual increase, year by year, up to 2035.

            Anyway, an increase from the current 2.07% of GDP.to 2.5%.would mean a 20.7% increase. That means every element of defence, from housing to pay to munitions to equipment procurement to R&D to IT, would hope to get a 20% boost. Of course it wouldn’t happen quite like that, the MOD would have its own priorities, which would not always be what informed onlookers felt was needed.

            RAF Combat Air currently has 179.aircraft. This includes the 9 MR/ASW Poseidons. A 20.7% increase would add 36 aircraft, taking the total to 215. How should that be divided up? I would say:

            4 Typhoon F2 (the Falklands flight)
            20 additional Typhoon FGR4e (1), taking the total to 127
            31 additional F-35B, taking the total to 64, 10 less than currently.envisaged
            Order for the first 16 F’35A, with numbers building up.further during the Tempest LRIP phase. Of course Tempest may be delayed beyond 2035, in which case more F-35As.
            At least 3 more Poseidons, to give both squadrons 5 aircraft, so 3 frontline in each. It is little enough.

            Grand total = 223 aircraft, 8 more than the 20.7% average would permit, so combat air would need to get an above average sum.

            How feasible would this be? We can currently only.afford 6-7 new fast jets a year. A 20% increase in budget would increase that to 8 a year. In the 11 years to end 2035, it would mean we could acquire upwards of 80 new aircraft.

            My hypothetical order book envisages
            – 20 more Typhoons
            – 31 more F-35Bs
            – The first 16 F-35As of hopefully 48 eventually
            – 3 more Poseidon P8s

            so 70 aircraft in total, and still only 6 or 7 a year.

            Ergo, it could all be done, if the defence budget increases, as the new HMG says it will and MOD seizes the opportunity to increase combat air numbers..

            Of course it won’t happen like that, alas. The MOD will work out the increase from the lowest possible point, I.e. when the Typhoon F2 is retired next year and we go down to our lowest–ever combat air strength of around 150. They will cling onto the 74 F-35Bs, for in-service political reasons rather than strategic air power requirements. Then they will deduct the cost of the planned 40 Typhoon upgrades and Block 4. Then channel any remaining funds into Tempest or spaff it on anything but the necessary fast jets.

            Grrrr! Got that off my chest, forgive length of rant!

            (1) Typhoon FGR4E – my shorthand for the 40 Typhoons being upgraded with the European Common Radar System, the cost of which is unfortunately prohibitive.

        • Small comfort I know, but the bonus is the delayed batches will be Block IV software and so have much more available to them.

          • I’m afraid 7 Typhoon squadrons, each of 12 frontline aircraft, is not mathematically possible Enobob.

            We only have 107 FGR4s, forget the F2s, they are already being run down and will vanish completely in 12 months time.

            A Squadron of 12 front line aircraft requires 3 as Squadron maintenance reserve, 3 as war reserve and 1.5 as attrition reserve.
            Total: 19.5 aircraft.

            If we really had 7 such squadrons, we would need 136 aircraft to start with. But then you have to add:

            Wing Commander, Lossiemouth – 2
            Wing Commander, Coningsby – 2
            OEU (trials and tests) – 3
            OCU (Aircrew training) – 20 ( 1 aircraft per 6 frontline + 25% Squadron maintenance reserve
            reserve + 10% attrition reserve)
            Falklands flight – 4.

            So your 7 x 12 aircraft squadrons.would actually total 167 aircraft, plus whatever is now in the Aggressor training squadron and the Qatar trainong squadron.That is 60 plus more than we have got.

            Try your sums again based on.5 squadrons of 10 frontline aircraft. I think you will.find the total then adds up to 107, which is surprisingly the number we actually have.

          • The wing Commander of a RAF station does not have 2 Typhoons. Plus, they are called station commanders. Today. 137 Typhoons are in service. 100 in the forward fleet. 37 in the sustainment fleet. 4 T1 jets in the Falklands will remain in service until 2027. 107 aircraft will be in service once all T1 jets are retired. 7 frontline sqns will be maintained. The sustainment fleet will be smaller. £2.35 billion is being spent upgrading the whole Typhoon fleet with 40 jets planned to receive the new Mk2 ECRS radar, with the potential for the T2 aircraft to also reciver the new radar. The RAF goes for capability over numbers every single time.

          • The Station Commander is a Group Captain who oversees all departments af the base – flying. engineering, admin, RAF Regt etc.

            Under the Group Captain, the flying squadrons are commanded by a Wing Commander. The Wingco has always been allocated his/her own aircraft, as they need to be up to speed with the aircraft, its systems, capabilities and issues and may often command in the air.

            Procurement planning has always allowed for a second aircraft in reserve, but with the MOD continually fiddling with numbers, who knows from week to week.

          • WE DO have 7 operational Typhoon squadrons, and they each have an establishment of 12 aircraft. I don’t know where you get your totally fictitious numbers from but they bare no resemblance to the modern RAF and smack of a 1950’s Hunter squadron, if they smack of anything! No Wing Commander flying of an RAF station has had aircraft allocated to them since the 50’s and your percentages are pure fantasy, they are NOT worked out like that! I don’t know what your background is but as some one with recent intimate involvement in contractor support to the RAF I can assure you that your numbers are off, by a LONG way! In the modern RAF each Typhoon squadron has an establishment of 12 aircraft, and are allocated a set amount of aircrew, ground crew, ground servicing equipment, tools etc for that number. Depth support from a centralised RAF/contractor facility looks after servicing and aircraft allocation to each squadron.

          • The RAF never talks about the Trenchard system, whereby 50% of the aircraft are not in frontline roles. I probably shouldn’t either, though some of the wild claims about squadron numbers and strengths are way wide of reality.

            Let me just say you are misinformed. If you can explain why we are ordering 74 F-35Bs to equip 3 squadrons and set out how the Wing is configured, we could have a useful discussion.

          • The RAF’s MOD website states that we have 6 operational Typhoon squadrons. It does not say 7, as some posters here keep telling us.

            They get to that figure by including the Aggressor training squadron, 1X(B). They fly the Tranche 1 F2s but borrow FGR4s from the so-called Sustainment fleet for overseas postings. Basically, it’s another squadron number plate without the aircraft numbers to sustain it in any conflict. Classic MOD double counting.

            Where does this 7th squadron confusion come from? It is the Qatar training squadron, which in reality is an RAF flight with Qatari pilots, training here. It is an ad hoc, temporary peacetime arrangement. It will last until September next year, when Qatar takes delivery of the last of its new Typhoons and the Qatari pilots here return home. At that point, no role for 12 sqn and no spare aircraft.

            So basically we have 5 operational sqns and 2 paper ones and the aircraft for 5 (small) operational squadrons and one flight.

        • purely out of interest the US Military lost 8540 fixed & Rotary wing, in the Vietnam war, with near total air superiority.

        • If we are sending 24 F-35s to the Pacific next year with the CSG, they’ll need as much training and practice as we can get. That probably requires real, overseas deployments, as well as running newbies through the mill.

    • 4 jets out of a force of over 30 deployed to Iceland. Yes, you are right, that only leaves the rest of 617 Sqn, 207 Sqn and 809 Sqn with Lightning and 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 29 and 41 Sqns with Typhoons! What a hysterical over reaction.

    • I’m also concerned about the UK’s lack of front-line aerodromes and the concentration of what remains of the RAF’s front-line aircraft into so few locations: Marham, Lossiemouth, Waddington, and Coningsby.

        • Yeah Wick!

          Lets not forget the WWII heritage there. For example the sad loss on 4 December 1941, Sqn Ldr Alastair Taylor DFC with two bars and his navigator, Sgt. Sidney Horsfall, were killed in the Trondheim-Bergen area, becoming the first 1 PRU casualties

          I believe they were hit by flak, and rather than let the new dH Mosquito aircraft fall into NAZI hands they turned out to sea rather than crash land. True heros!

      • The RAF dusted off cold War plans to deploy to regional airports etc a couple of years back. If tensions were sky high I have no doubt we would see flights deployed in various locations, probably moving around regularly too in order to complicate any attack plans.

    • Numbers may be small but at least they are getting some real world experience of deploying and the operating challenges that brings. Its better than sitting at home twiddling their thumbs.

  3. Is someone able to confirm for me that our F35 fleet has AMRAAM while we’re waiting… and waiting… and waiting… for LM to provide Block IV software? It scares me to think we might be sending up a CAP with only ASRAAM.

  4. “This will be the first time that the Lightning Force has deployed to contribute to NATO Air Policing”.
    Surely he must mean the British Lightning Force? Dutch F35A’s have been active on several NATO Air Policing missions in Poland and Bulgaria since 2022.

  6. Perhaps of interest is that Iceland has no standing army and no air force but has a Coast Guard (which also operates land-based AD radars) rather than a conventional Navy.

    In lieu of a standing army, under the Foreign Ministry they have a Crisis Response Unit of 30 active personnel from a roster of 200 for peacekeeping duties.

  7. “marking the first time these advanced aircraft have participated in a NATO air policing deployment.”
    Surely the first time for RAF lightnings. Not for other NATO F35 users. Dutch F35A’s have been involved in Air Policing in Eastern Europe since 2022.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here