Defence of Iceland

Iceland's defence forces consist of the Icelandic Coast Guard, which patrols Icelandic waters and monitors its airspace, and other services such as the National Commissioner's National Security and the Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Iceland maintains no standing army, the only NATO member for which this is the case.

The Coast Guard consists of three ships and four aircraft and armed with small arms, naval artillery, and air defence radar stations.^[5] The Coast Guard also maintains the Iceland Air Defence System, formerly part of the disestablished Defence Agency, which conducts surveillance from the ground of Iceland's air space.^[5]^[6]

Additionally, there is a Crisis Response Unit (ICRU), operated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, which is a small peacekeeping force that has been deployed internationally, since 2008. This unit also has an unarmed component.

There is a treaty with the United States, which until 2006 maintained the Naval Air Station Keflavik, regarding the defence of Iceland. The base, now operated by the Icelandic Coast Guard, has been regularly visited by the US military and other allied NATO members.^[7] In 2017 the United States announced its interest in renovating a hangar, in order to accommodate a Boeing P-8 Poseidon ASW aircraft at the air base.^[8]

There are also agreements concerning military and other security operations with Norway,^[9]^[10] Denmark^[11]^[12]^[13] and other NATO countries.

Iceland holds the annual NATO exercises entitled Northern Viking. The most recent exercises were held in 2022,^[14] as well as the EOD exercise "Northern Challenge". In 1997 Iceland hosted its first Partnership for Peace (PfP) exercise, "Cooperative Safeguard", which is the only multilateral PfP exercise so far in which Russia has participated. Another major PfP exercise was hosted in 2000. Iceland has also contributed ICRU peacekeepers to SFOR, KFOR and ISAF.

Iceland has never participated in a full-scale war or invasion. Furthermore, the constitution of Iceland has no mechanism to declare war.^[15]

^ Varnarmálastofnun Íslands. Archived 2011-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Lög um breytingu á varnarmálalögum, nr. 34/2008". althingi.is. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
^ "Varnarmálalög". althingi.is. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
^ "Landhelgisgæsla Íslands Hlutverk". Archived from the original on 2014-07-06. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2007-01-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "NATO Air Policing". NATO. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
^ Pettersen, Trude (February 10, 2016). "U.S. military returns to Iceland". The Independent Barents Observer AS.
^ Snow, Shawn (17 December 2017). "US plans $200 million buildup of European air bases flanking Russia". Air Force Times.
^ "Iceland and Norway sign MoU on security policy cooperation". Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
^ "An English translation of the Norwegian-Icelandic MoU at the website of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs" (PDF).
^ "Norway Post: Norway and Iceland to sign defence agreement". Norway Post. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
^ Aftenposten: Norway to help defend Iceland Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Danmarks Radio". 26 April 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
^ "A press release from the Icelandic Coast Guard". Retrieved 23 October 2014.
^ "From Iceland — Ask A Historian: Has Iceland Ever Been Involved In Any Wars Or Conflicts". The Reykjavik Grapevine. 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2020-10-17.

[1] Varnarmálastofnun Íslands. Archived 2011-11-20 at the Wayback Machine

[2] "Lög um breytingu á varnarmálalögum, nr. 34/2008". althingi.is. Retrieved 23 October 2014.

[3] "Varnarmálalög". althingi.is. Retrieved 23 October 2014.

[4] "Landhelgisgæsla Íslands Hlutverk". Archived from the original on 2014-07-06. Retrieved 23 October 2014.

[iads-5] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2007-01-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[6] "NATO Air Policing". NATO. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2014.

[7] Pettersen, Trude (February 10, 2016). "U.S. military returns to Iceland". The Independent Barents Observer AS.

[8] Snow, Shawn (17 December 2017). "US plans $200 million buildup of European air bases flanking Russia". Air Force Times.

[9] "Iceland and Norway sign MoU on security policy cooperation". Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2014.

[10] "An English translation of the Norwegian-Icelandic MoU at the website of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs" (PDF).

[11] "Norway Post: Norway and Iceland to sign defence agreement". Norway Post. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2014.

[12] Aftenposten: Norway to help defend Iceland Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine

[13] "Danmarks Radio". 26 April 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2014.

[14] "A press release from the Icelandic Coast Guard". Retrieved 23 October 2014.

[15] "From Iceland — Ask A Historian: Has Iceland Ever Been Involved In Any Wars Or Conflicts". The Reykjavik Grapevine. 2017-07-14. Retrieved 2020-10-17.

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