The Belgian Air Force formally assumed responsibility for the Iceland Air Defence mission at Keflavik Air Base on Aug. 17, 2026. The detachment, which arrived Aug. 7 for a month-long deployment, includes F-16 Fighting Falcons and supporting personnel, contributing to NATO’s enhanced Vigilance Activity (eVA) Arctic Sentry, led by Joint Force Command Norfolk (JFCNF).  

We’re honing our warfighting skills and ensuring our ability to secure this critical region

Although a U.S.-led exercise, JFCNF played a pivotal role in contributing personnel alongside other NATO components and Allied forces, such as NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) and NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM). 


U.S. General Alexus G. Grynkewich, NATO supreme allied commander Europe (SACEUR), delivers remarks during the opening ceremony of Exercise Northern Viking 26 at Keflavik Air Base, Iceland, Aug. 18, 2026, with Belgian F-16s — currently deployed to Iceland for the NATO Air Defence mission — serving as a backdrop. The exercise strengthens interoperability and force readiness between the U.S., Iceland and allied nations. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of War.

The Belgian deployment runs alongside Northern Viking 2026, a U.S.-led Joint and Allied exercise that brought together NATO and national air, maritime and land forces together around Iceland and the North Atlantic. While the Air Defence mission remains an operational NATO responsibility outside the exercise, Belgian aircraft also contributed to the exercise environment, strengthening integration with Allied Command and Control (C2) and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. The participation of Airpower in the exercise supported a shared understanding of activity across the region.  

“Together, we’re honing our warfighting skills and ensuring our ability to secure this critical region and to project decisive combat power wherever and whenever necessary,” U.S. General Alexus G. Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe (SACEUR) said in his remarks during the exercise’s opening ceremony at Keflavik Air Base. “Throughout this exercise, and others, we will leverage the power of data in [artificial intelligence] enabled decision support tools, will integrate data streams in real time and ensure our command and control structures can make decisions at the speed of future conflict.”

NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre Bodø (CAOC-B) indirectly participated in the exercise, overseeing the Arctic airspace and providing critical C2 capabilities for the Alliance.

The deployment reflects AIRCOM’s move towards a new Air Defence posture. Under this approach, Air Policing forms part of a broader, layered 360-degree Air Defence framework, integrating fighter aircraft with sensors, C2 and other air and missile defence capabilities to protect NATO territory, populations and forces against a wider range of air and missile threats.

Iceland’s position in the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) Gap makes effective air surveillance, C2 and rapid response important to NATO’s ability to defend the High North and maintain the transatlantic link. The Belgian detachment and Northern Viking demonstrate complementary aspects of that effort, combining continuous Air Defence with multinational training to strengthen readiness, interoperability, deterrence and the defence of NATO territory and NATO airspace.