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Iceland's defence forces consist of theIcelandic Coast Guard, which patrols Icelandic waters and monitors its airspace, and other services such as theNational Commissioner'sNational Security and theSpecial Unit of the National Police Commissioner.[1][2][3][4] Iceland maintains nostanding army, the onlyNATO member for which this is the case.
The Coast Guard consists of three ships and four aircraft and armed withsmall arms,naval artillery, andair defence radar stations.[5] The Coast Guard also maintains theIceland Air Defence System, formerly part of the disestablishedDefence Agency, which conducts surveillance from the ground of Iceland's air space.[5][6]
Additionally, there is aCrisis Response Unit (ICRU), operated by theMinistry for Foreign Affairs, which is a smallpeacekeeping force that has been deployed internationally, since 2008. This unit also has an unarmed component.
There is a treaty with theUnited States, which until 2006 maintained theNaval 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 aBoeing P-8 PoseidonASW aircraft at the air base.[8]
There are also agreements concerning military and other security operations withNorway,[9][10]Denmark[11][12][13] and otherNATO countries.
Iceland holds the annualNATO exercises entitledNorthern Viking. The most recent exercises were held in 2024,[14] as well as theEOD exercise "Northern Challenge". In 1997 Iceland hosted its firstPartnership 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 toSFOR,KFOR andISAF.
Iceland has never participated in a full-scalewar or invasion. Furthermore, theconstitution of Iceland has no mechanism to declare war.[15]
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 orliðsmenn) organised according to the standard Nordic military doctrine of the time in expeditionary armies such as theleiðangr. 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 asAge of the Sturlungs. A typical battle involved fewer than 1000 men.
Amphibious operations were an important part of warfare in Iceland in this period, especially in theWestfjords, but largenaval engagements were rare. The largest such engagement, known asFlóabardagi, involved a few dozen ships inHúnaflói (bay).
In the decades before theNapoleonic Wars, the few hundred militiamen in the southwest of Iceland were mainly equipped with rusty and mostly obsolete medieval weaponry, including 16th-centuryhalberds. When British privateers arrived in 1808, after most of theRoyal Dano-Norwegian Navy had been captured or destroyed in thebattle of Copenhagen in 1807, the amount ofgunpowder in Iceland was so small that the governor of Iceland,Frederich Christopher Trampe, Count of Trampe, could not offer any resistance.
In 1855, the Icelandic Army was re-established by Andreas August von Kohl, the sheriff inVestmannaeyjar. In 1856, the king provided 180rixdollars to buy guns, and a further 200 rixdollars the following year. The sheriff became the Captain of the new army, which become known asHerfylkingin, "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.[citation needed]
In 1918, Iceland regained sovereignty as aseparate kingdom under the Danish king. Iceland established a Coast Guard shortly afterwards, but it was financially impossible to establish a standing army. The government hoped that a permanent neutrality would shield the country from invasion. But at the onset ofSecond World War, the government was concerned about a possible invasion, and decided to expand the Icelandic National Police (Ríkislögreglan) and its reserves into a military unit. Chief Commissioner of Police Agnar Kofoed Hansen had been trained in the Danish Army and he moved to train his officers. Weapons and uniforms were acquired, and they practised rifleshooting and military tactics nearLaugarvatn. Hansen barely managed to train his 60 officers before theUnited Kingdom'sinvasion of Iceland on 10 May 1940. Agnar wanted to expand the forces, but the Icelandic Minister of Justice rejected his proposal.[16]
In mid-1941 while still neutral theUnited States took over theoccupation of Iceland from the British but not with Iceland's approval. The stationing of US forces in Iceland continued well after the war, eventually codified in theAgreed Minute. In 1949 Iceland was a founding member ofNATO and was the sole member that did not have a standing army, joining NATO on the condition that it would not be expected to establish one. However, its strategic geographic position in the Atlantic made it an invaluable member. Expansion of forces by Iceland was therefore concentrated primarily in the Icelandic Coast Guard, which saw action in a series of confrontations with British fishing vessels andRoyal Navy warships known as theCod Wars. None of the Cod Wars meet any of the common thresholds for a conventional war and they may more accurately be described asmilitarised interstate disputes.[17][18][19][20]
TheIceland Defense Force (IDF) was amilitarycommand of theUnited States Armed Forces from 1951 to 2006. The IDF, created at the request of NATO, came into existence when the United States signed an agreement to provide for the defense of Iceland. The IDF also consisted of civilian Icelanders and military members of other NATO nations. The IDF was downsized after the end of theCold War and theU.S. Air Force maintained four to sixinterceptor aircraft at theNaval Air Station Keflavik, until they were withdrawn on 30 September 2006. Since May 2008, NATO nations have periodically deployed fighters to patrol Icelandic airspace under theIcelandic Air Policing mission.[21][22]During theIcesave dispute with the British and Dutch governments, Iceland made it clear that UK patrols in its airspace were not appropriate given the state of affairs and subsequently on 14 November 2008 the UK had to cancel its patrols and defense of the Icelandic airspace, which before the dispute had been scheduled to start in December 2008.[23]
After withdrawal of US forces in 2006, Iceland reorganized some military infrastructure in the form of theIcelandic Defence Agency (Varnarmálastofnun Íslands) founded in 2008.[24] under the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Agency took over operations atNaval Air Station Keflavik, but was closed in 2011 in the wake of the economic crisis, with functions distributed to the existing organizations.[25] The Icelandic Coast Guard now handles the military infrastructure in the country.
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 "Cod Wars". The Icelandic Coast Guard and the Royal Navy confronted each other on several occasions during these years. Although few rounds were fired, there were many intense moments. Today the Coast Guard remains Iceland's premier fighting force equipped with armed patrol vessels and aircraft and partaking in peacekeeping operations in foreign lands.
The Coast Guard has four vessels and four aircraft (one fixed wing and three helicopters) at their disposal.
The Iceland Air Defence System orÍslenska Loftvarnarkerfið was founded in 1987, and operates fourradar complexes, asoftware and support facility and a command and report centre. It is a part of the Coast Guard.
Iceland's NATO allies also regularly deployfighter aircraft to patrol the country's airspace as part of theIcelandic Air Policing mission.[22][26]
The Icelandic Crisis Response Unit (ICRU) (orÍslenska friðargæslan or "The Icelandic Peacekeeping Guard") is an expeditionary peacekeeping force maintained by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It is composed of personnel from Iceland's other services, armed or not, including theNational Police, Coast Guard, emergency services and healthcare system. Because of the military nature of most of the ICRU's assignments, all of its members receive basic infantry combat training. This training has often been conducted by theNorwegian Army, but the Coast Guard and the Special Forces are also assigned to train the ICRU.[citation needed]
Most of the ICRU's camouflage and weaponry is procured from abroad, with some indigenous development. Some arms and uniforms are also borrowed from theNorwegian Defence Forces.[citation needed]
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 asuicide bombing onChicken Street inKabul that killed a 13-year old Afghan girl and a 23-year old American woman.[27] The incident resulted in severe criticism of the group's commander,Colonel Hallgrímur Sigurðsson, as despite orders not to leaveKabul Airport unless absolutely necessary, he took the group to Chicken Street to shop carpets.[28][29][30][31] Few weeks later, his command was passed to Lt. Colonel Garðar Forberg,[32] followed by Colonel Lárus Atlason.[citation needed]
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]
The ICRU has been or is operating in:
Afghanistan withinISAF
Iraq within NTM-1 (and the Coast Guard withinDancon/Irak)
Kosovo, within KFOR
Bosnia and Herzegovina withinEUPM
Lebanon within the Mine Action Coordination Center for South Lebanon (MACC-SL)
Sri Lanka withinSLMM
Glock 17 — Sidearm (Pistol)
AG-3 — Battle Rifle
Heckler & Koch MP5 — Sub-Machine GunBlaser R93 — Sniper RifleRheinmetall MG3 – General-Purpose Machine Gun
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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