Defence of Iceland
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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 Special Forces Units.[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
Iceland has never participated in a full-scale war or invasion. Furthermore, the constitution of Iceland has no mechanism to declare war.[15]
History
In the period from the settlement of Iceland, in the 870s, until it became part of the realm of the Norwegian King, military defences of Iceland consisted of multiple chieftains (Goðar) and their free followers (þingmenn, bændur or liðsmenn) organised according to the standard Nordic military doctrine of the time in expeditionary armies such as the leiðangr. These armies were divided into units according to the quality of the warriors and by birth. At the end of this period, the number of chieftains had diminished and their power had grown, to the detriment of their followers. This resulted in a long and bloody civil war known as Age of the Sturlungs. A typical battle involved fewer than 1000 men.
In the decades before the
In 1855, the Icelandic Army was re-established by Andreas August von Kohl, the sheriff in Vestmannaeyjar. In 1856, the king provided 180 rixdollars to buy guns, and a further 200 rixdollars the following year. The sheriff became the Captain of the new army, which become known as Herfylkingin, "The Battalion". In 1860 von Kohl died, and Pétur Bjarnasen took over command. Nine years later Bjarnasen died without appointing a successor, and the army fell into disarray.
In 1918, Iceland regained sovereignty as a
In mid-1941 while still neutral the
The
After withdrawal of US forces in 2006, Iceland reorganized some military infrastructure in the form of the
Coast Guard
Shortly after Iceland reclaimed its sovereignty in 1918, the Icelandic Coast Guard was founded. Its first vessel, a former Danish research vessel, was armed with a 57 mm cannon. The Coast Guard is responsible for protecting Iceland's sovereignty and vital interests including the most valuable natural resource—its fishing areas—as well as providing security, search, and rescue services to Iceland's fishing fleet. In 1952, 1958, 1972, and 1975, the government progressively expanded Iceland's exclusive economic zone to 4, 12, 50, and 200 nautical miles (7, 22, 93, and 370 kilometres). This led to a conflict with the United Kingdom, among other states, known as the "
The Coast Guard has four vessels and four aircraft (one fixed wing and three helicopters) at their disposal.
Iceland Air Defence System
The Iceland Air Defence System or Íslenska Loftvarnarkerfið was founded in 1987, and operates four radar complexes, a software and support facility and a command and report centre. It is a part of the Coast Guard.
Iceland's NATO allies also regularly deploy fighter aircraft to patrol the country's airspace as part of the Icelandic Air Policing mission.[22]
Icelandic Crisis Response Unit
The Icelandic Crisis Response Unit (ICRU) (or Íslenska friðargæslan or "The Icelandic Peacekeeping Guard") is an expeditionary peacekeeping force maintained by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It is manned by personnel from Iceland's other services, armed or not, including the
Most of the ICRU's camouflage and weaponry is procured from abroad, with some indigenous development. Some arms and uniforms are also borrowed from the
The formation and employment of the unit have met controversy in Iceland, especially by people on the left of the political scale. In October 2004, three ICRU personnel were wounded in a
In 2008, the uniformed ICRU deployed personnel still armed for self-defense returned their weapons and changed to civilian clothing. The policy since 2008 is that, unless under special circumstances, ICRU personnel do not wear uniforms or carry weapons.[citation needed]
ICRU missions
The ICRU has been or is operating in:
- Military missions:
- Afghanistan within ISAF
- Iraq within NTM-1 (and the Coast Guard within Dancon/Irak)
- Kosovo, within KFOR
- Civilian missions:
- EUPM
- Lebanon within the Mine Action Coordination Center for South Lebanon (MACC-SL)
- SLMM
-
List of small-arms used by Icelandic forces
- Glock 17— Sidearm (Pistol)
- AG-3 — Battle Rifle
- Heckler & Koch MP5 — Sub-Machine Gun
- Blaser R93— Sniper Rifle
- Rheinmetall MG3– General-Purpose Machine Gun
See also
References
- ^ 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. 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. Archived from the originalon 29 September 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ Aftenposten: Norway to help defend Iceland Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Danmarks Radio". 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.
- ^ "Efling lögreglunnar" (in Icelandic). Morgunblaðið. 20 July 1940. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- S2CID 155242560.
- S2CID 144997884.
- S2CID 154973439.
- S2CID 110394899.
- ^ "French Air Force in Iceland". Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 5 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ a b "Air Policing". NATO Air Command Operations. Archived from the original on 24 January 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ "British air force mission to Iceland scrapped". USA Today. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
- ^ "Varnarmálastofnun". Archived from the original on 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2014-10-21.
- ^ John Pike. "Iceland". Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ "The little island that took on the world". The Independent. 17 September 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
Further reading
- Birgir Loftsson, Hernaðarsaga Íslands : 1170–1581, Pjaxi. Reykjavík. 2006.
- Þór Whitehead, The Ally who came in from the cold : a survey of Icelandic Foreign Policy 1946–1956, Centre for International Studies. University of Iceland Press. Reykjavík. 1998.
External links
- Icelandic Coast Guard
- Icelandic National Police
- Iceland Air Defence System
- Ministry of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs
- Ministry for Foreign Affairs
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