Northern Viking: Practicing the Defense of Iceland and Sea Routes in the North Atlantic
Iceland receives allied support for defense and deterrence as the country does not have its own military forces. Here, the American amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, the German frigate FGS Sachsen, and the French frigate FS Latouche-Trèville are training outside Iceland during Northern Viking 2022. (Photo: Jesse Schwab/the US Navy)
On Monday, the US-led defense exercise Northern Viking kicked off in Iceland. Allied forces and Icelandic preparedness agencies are practicing securing critical national infrastructure and the sea lines of communication in the Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom (GIUK) gap.
The defense exercise Northern Viking takes place in and around Iceland from August 26th to September 3rd, reports the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The US-led exercise has been conducted periodically since 1982 based on the bilateral defense agreement between Iceland and the US from 1951. It was last organized in the spring of 2022.
"The main purpose of the exercise is to practice the defense of vital national infrastructure, the sea routes around Iceland, search and rescue, host nation support and the coordination of relevant agencies in Iceland," writes the ministry, which is responsible for Icelandic security and defense policy.
More concretely, the exercise partly focuses on control of sea communication lines in the GIUK gap – two strategically important stretches in the ocean areas between Greenland, Iceland, and the UK.
In addition to Iceland and the US, troops, aircraft and ships from Norway, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal are participating. Parts of NATO's Standing Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) will also be operating.
In total, the exercise will involve around 1,200, of which about 200 come from Iceland's Directorate for Defense in the MFA, the Coast Guard, police, and other institutions within civilian preparedness and crisis management.
Furthermore, Northern Viking is about strengthening the allied and national interoperability in the face of both traditional military threats and hybrid warfare – such as sabotage against submarine communications cables.
Specific exercise activities include a landing operation, anti-submarine warfare with maritime patrol aircraft and frigates with anti-submarine helicopters, and search and rescue operations and humanitarian crisis response to a simulated volcanic eruption.
