Iceland, the United States, four NATO partners, and NATO Allied Maritime Command’s (MARCOM’s) Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) are underway with the US-led ‘Northern Viking 2024’ exercise in Iceland. The exercise, which is running between 26 August and 3 September, is a joint, combined, multi-domain activity, being hosted out of Keflavik air base.
The four NATO partners participating are Denmark, France, Norway, and Poland. US participation includes the US Navy and US Marine Corps.
‘Northern Viking’, which has taken place since 1982, is planned and run by US Sixth Fleet, under leadership and direction of US Naval Forces Europe and US European Command, respectively.
The bi-annual live exercise is focused on allied interoperability across what is a key strategic region for NATO. The importance of the region for the alliance is underlined by the fact that the breadth of allied exercises held in and around Iceland collectively cover the full spectrum of operations. For example, SNMG1 is the centrepiece of the annual ‘Dynamic Mongoose’ anti-submarine warfare exercise, which takes place in the May/June timeframe in waters between Iceland and Norway. This year, ‘Northern Viking’ is focused at the other end of the spectrum, tackling humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) tasks. For an island located at distance out into the North Atlantic, an HADR operation – for example, in response to a volcanic eruption – will require support from expeditionary forces traveling in by air and sea.
The capacity for the United States and NATO to deploy forces across the sea over distance to Iceland demonstrates the capability to provide assistance in response to any crisis, whether that be an HADR operation or another – higher-end – military requirement.
In a US Sixth Fleet statement, Rear Admiral Patrick Hayden – the fleet’s Director for Logistics, Ordnance, Engineering, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa – said “We are here to demonstrate the United States’ unwavering commitment to Iceland and [to] the security and stability of the North Atlantic.” “By exercising interoperability through air, land, and sea integration … the United States and our [allies] are better postured and ready to collectively defend against any threats from potential adversaries,” Rear Adm Hayden added.
For example, the statement said, ‘Northern Viking 24’ will enable the allies to be better prepared if required to execute multi-domain command and control (C2) of joint and combined forces in defending Iceland and the sea lines of communication that flow through the Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) Gap.
by Dr. Lee Willett
