RAF Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft have deployed to Iceland as part of a training programme aimed at strengthening UK and NATO operations in the North Atlantic, according to the Royal Air Force.
Crews from 42 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadron are conducting a series of sorties from Keflavík Air Base as part of the Poseidon Conversion Course, which trains personnel to operate the aircraft. The deployment involves two P-8A Poseidon aircraft and is intended to expose crews to an unfamiliar operational environment as they prepare for frontline duties.
The RAF said the North Atlantic remains a strategically significant region, with Iceland positioned at a key gateway to the High North. Operating from Keflavík allows crews to train in conditions reflective of real-world missions, including monitoring undersea activity and maintaining situational awareness in a heavily trafficked maritime environment.
The Poseidon aircraft is designed to detect and track submarines and surface vessels, forming part of the UK’s wider maritime defence posture. Training in Iceland is intended to build readiness for rapid deployment and improve the ability to operate alongside NATO allies in the region.
The deployment also supports ongoing cooperation with the Icelandic Coast Guard and contributes to NATO collective defence efforts. It forms part of the RAF’s broader Agile Combat Employment approach, which focuses on the ability to deploy and operate from a range of locations.
Air Marshal Allan Marshall said: “Our return to Iceland provides an excellent training opportunity and demonstrates the UK’s unwavering commitment to safeguarding the North Atlantic. Operating from Keflavík gives our Poseidon crews the realism and challenge needed to maintain the highest levels of readiness.”
The combined ENATO P8 force operated between the UK, Canada, Norway and soon Germany is beginning to look quite impressive. Hopefully we can see something similar soon with the T26/River class force. Between the there navies they will be operating some 28 X T26 derivatives all armed with CAPTAS 4 towed arrays and most sitting in the North Atlantic holding the Bear and GIUK GAP.
Combined with the P8’s, submarines, off board sensors and other NATO navies that is an insurmountable force for any Russian or Chinese submarine trying to enter the Atlantic.
I have to agree with you.
A big fleet of T26s and P8’s plus other sensors is a massive problem for any opponent – when the T26s actually enter service…..
Just need to actually get them into service and armed and crewed to the teeth with all the extra little bits that make the difference between very good and unbelievably good.
Agreed. I’d also like to see the MQ-9Bs/Protectors playing backup and extending the surveillance picture. The RAF spec wasn’t as well set up for maritime as it could have been, but I think there’s been recognition of that and hopefully we can soon get a maritime radar on them, at the very least.
Indo-Pacific P8 numbers are also comparable to eNATO although more of Indo-Pacific fleet is already delivered and in service versus on order for eNATO. The RAAFs 4 Triton UAVs are designed to be significant ISR force multipliers for the P8 as will the Ghost Bat UAVs when operating with an ISR payload.
13 RAAF, 4 RNZAF, 4 Singapore, 6 India, 6 South Korea (33 total)
14 Canada, 9 RAF, 8 Germany, 5 Norway (36 total)
Certainly a huge level of interoperability and shared lessons plus a critical mass for a global maintenance and sustainment pool.
It’s very interesting Iceland are one of those nations shifting its geopolitical stance away from the U.S. they were very worried about what is happing arouns greenland.. and a bit freaked out when the new US ambassador to Iceland joked it would be the 52nd state.. they have more and more been shift towards European defence structures.
Fine line between a joke, a Tangerine King brain fart and policy….usually indistinguishable….
I can see Greenland, Iceland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Bermuda, Falkands etc all being potential take-over targets by Trump’s expansion of the Monroe Doctrine.
Meanwhile Iran has been reducing the USA’s dwindling fleet of 16 E-3 Sentry’s with at least one destroyed in the attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia that occurred on March 27th. Five KC-135s were also damaged to varying degrees.