The RAF has carried out its largest ever deployment of P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, sending three jets from 120 Squadron to Keflavik Air Base in Iceland as part of NATO vigilance activity.
The RAF said the mission reinforced the UK’s commitment to monitoring the North Atlantic and supporting Alliance plans for the High North, a region NATO considers strategically critical.
The deployment allowed aircrew and engineers to rehearse Agile Combat Employment concepts, with the RAF making clear the need to move and operate high end capabilities rapidly across dispersed locations. According to the RAF, operating from Keflavik also demonstrated the UK’s ability to contribute to wider NATO surveillance and deterrence tasks in an area used to track submarine movements between the Arctic and the North Atlantic.
Wing Commander Higgins, Officer Commanding 120 Squadron, linked the mission to the unit’s historical role in protecting the same waters. He said “this deployment to Iceland highlights the enduring importance of the North Atlantic and Arctic to the security of the Alliance… Today, operating the P 8A Poseidon, we continue that legacy by contributing to NATO’s collective defence and ensuring the security of this strategically critical region. It’s an honour to work alongside our Icelandic partners and NATO allies in our constant endeavour to safeguard the maritime domain.”
While in Iceland, the detachment supported NATO’s Peacetime Vigilance Activity under Maritime Command and worked alongside US and Canadian forces. The RAF said the experience will help refine regional plans and strengthen cooperation in an area of increasing focus for the Alliance.
The P 8A Poseidon, equipped with advanced sensors and weapons, is central to the UK’s wider anti submarine mission and to NATO’s ability to monitor activity in the North Atlantic.
Is this the Iceland Christmas Sale ?
Or how about, Santa gone missing ?
One can never tell these days what’s real or fake news. 👀🤔🫡
3 more would be nice. What are the odds?
I’d say slim unfortunately mate. Especially now Norwegian and German P8s will operate out of Lossiemouth. Another 3 would considerably increase the RAFs out of area deployment capability. But hopefully Protector will get some kind of maritime capability.
Hi mate.
I agree, sadly. It shows how hollow the governments words are, though. Even small increments in key areas would be a boost, and I don’t see it.
9 days left before Parliament rises, will the mythological DIP be released. I thubk not.
BBC News at 6 was showing some of the Bastion demo stuff. They also interviewed Healey, but I just turned it over I’m afraid, it’s bad enough reading what he says, never mind hearing it. The poor ignorant BBC interviewer won’t have the foggiest idea and Healey isn’t held to account.
It is extraordinary given its budget and levels of pay for public facing roles, that the BBC doesn’t generally feel the need to employ journalists with actual expertise in the areas they report on. Defence and Security is hardly a niche area
there was a BBC indepth article on the website that was titled “How long Britain could really fight for if war broke out tomorrow” which highlighted a lot of issues
No chance the RAF have zero interest in the blue bits on the map…other than as a way to get to the green and brown bits.
3 airplanes is a surge now. Comical.
I read that 3 Drones Is a Swarm too ! I guess we have to “Big It Up” somehow.
im guessing its approaching 100 aircrew alone…not to mention ground staff. perhaps they meant a surge on manpower
3 Aircraft is just a deployment especially if it wasn’t a no notice event which it sounds like from the description. In my day a surge might be at least 1 Sqn and possibly more sometimes related to a TACEVAL. I have seen surges in the USAF when a whole wing was involved, no notice, with all aircrew called in for kit checks and vacination checked for deployment etc and aircraft took off with only the direction and duration briefed. Destinations were released when airbourne.
The £5.4 B money that will need to be found to replace Ajax from the general budget would pay for another 9 P8.
I was interested when researching this that that the US Navy only deploys on rotation to Keflavik – I assumed they had a permanent presence. We have 9 P8s, Norway will have 5 and Germany 8.. so 22 to patrol the North Atlantic and Baltic… with other assets like diminishing numbers of legacy P3s until they are retired. Not a lot. But then I don’t know really know what enough would be… who does?.. outside the military, and they won’t – and shouldn’t – say… the rest is best guess. Combined with rapidly expanding work on autonomous assets the whole military scene is evolving daily … old doctrines are now probably fatal doctrines.
Nothing new is going to arrive by the end of next week, that’s for sure so it was a nice moment last week when WT001, the first RAF Wedgetail flew over my house… directly over at 7,000ft so I couldn’t see the Wedge! It was on its way back to Brum after a few months at Boscombe Down. Is this a hopeful sign the programme is moving on? We’ll see.
I do hope so, we are going to need them. We can expect all manner of threats once the Ukraine war comes to a messy Trumpist end. I fear the US regime will be cheering from the sidelines whatever damage and distractions Putin can inflict upon Europe to enhance his new and delusional World view.
Indeed, we live in interesting times. I don’t mind for me, I’ve had my three score and ten, but I do for my grandchildren who will pick up the tab.
Yep the new US strategic defence document makes it very clear indeed..the U.S. has plans for Europe:
1) control how the UK thinks and what it does
2) destroy the EU
3) spit away Eastern Europe from Western Europe and let Russia have its way in the Russia near abroad, while the U.S. essentially keeps control of Western Europe through coercive geopolitical manipulation.
4) keep any European power way from the US area of influence ( north and South American).
If we had any doubts that the US was now a geopolitical competitor that document sealed the deal.
Spot on.
Well, I see where you’re coming from but there are plenty of Americans – at least 50% – who don’t agree with this shift in foreign policy. Let’s not confuse the nation with its ephemeral government. And they are still friends even so.
Hi Wyn completely agree.. unfortunately sometimes our governments don’t really represent us.. and the big problem with the US as an ally is sadly it’s completely unbalanced government and the fact 50% ( well its probably less that 50% as their is always a balanced middle) of the population have a diametrically apposed view to the other.. and you simply cannot have an alliance of any meaning with a nation that one year is all in and the next may sell you out to your enemies depending on who is elected.. unfortunately until the GOP sorts its life out and stops looking like a Neo fascist party nobody in the western world can trust the US as an ally.. it’s profoundly sad and tragic.
Yes, this half and half is a real problem, and it’s happening this side of the Atlantic too. The latest denunciations of European leaders… where is this going to end? I’m less and less buying the line that we can’t look after ourselves without the US. It wouldn’t be easy, but the rate of change in Europe in defence is astonishing.. long over due, yes, but happening, and it’s moving technologically forward too. I doubt if many senior US military sleep well at night. They know they need us as much as we need them.
I was reading a BBC article yesterday which said that Europe depends on the US for in flight refuelling. Which is nonsense. They refuel our Rivet Joints.. but they use us for their Marines and Navy aircraft. Poor journalism from the Beeb. And there a growing tanker force of MRTTs too. It’s too much like the 30s in many ways – hurried re-armament with an increasingly isolationist US.
I see the US Congress is re-instigating the USAF buy of E7s. Additionally they have said that the current level of 16 E3s will be maintained and only retired when a one for one replacement with the E7 is ready.
That should be good news for STS at Birmingham as I believe they will be invlved vin producing the US aircarft as well as ours… which might help with us getting some more.
Given the anti – E7 element in the Trump administration it will put much more of a spotlight on the 2 prototypes currently in the US and to be fitted out by STS in the UK. If Boeing/STS delay the prototypes or dramtically increae the costs, I can see extreme pressure returning on the USAF to cancel the programme again. The 2 prototypes were always billed as a proof of specification so they better work as expected. If not, I can see the UK bidding to add them to their fleet. This may lways have been a fallback for Boeing to contune the E7 programme.
“Surge”? Three aircraft. Got to be the best laugh so far this week.
How many Shackletons does one P8 replace? Lots, I guess …indeed, how many Nimrods… I’ve no idea. Things aren’t a quid pro quo when it comes to comparing aircraft.
Iceland is just up the road’ from the Moray Firth. Aircraft were rotated through Kef. routinely. Why is it such an event now?
They seem to be going their daily at the moment – this ex seems to have been about moving support there as well, rather than flying back and forth. There’s an RAF P8 in the Keflavik circuit as I write.