STUTTGART, Germany — The German Air Force kicked off what it called a “lean and mean” operation on Friday to exhibit its ability to quickly deploy to Iceland as a part of a two-week exercise dubbed “Rapid Viking.”
From July 28 through Aug. 10, six German Eurofighters and 30 service members from the Tactical Air Force Squadron 73 “Steinhoff” are deployed to Keflavik Air Base, based on a service statement. Once on site, the squadrons will conduct several day by day practice flights.
The Rapid Viking Exercise is a possibility for the Air Force to exhibit how it could possibly move to Reykjavik “at supersonic speed,” said Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, the service’s chief of staff.
The Luftwaffe goals to function a “first responder,” he noted within the statement. “That’s the reason we’re training for a fast transfer with the fewest possible human and material resources, especially on this scenario.”
Two A400M aircraft shipped 25 tons price of fabric and the personnel to Iceland. The primary plane carried nine pallets plus personnel, while the second plane carried five pallets of fabric plus a hydraulic test stand.
On average, the air force would require between 130 and 150 tons of fabric to take part in an exercise, for a worth of as much as €200 million, said Staff Sergeant Oliver M. That quantity of cargo can take as much as every week to pack up, including three days simply to load the pallets onto the aircraft.
For Rapid Viking, the 25 tons of fabric, price about €2 million, took only two days to pack and one hour to load onto the aircraft.
The Luftwaffe was last deployed to Iceland in 2012 as a part of a NATO air policing initiative. Iceland is a NATO member, however it doesn’t have its own military. Allies show solidarity to the 375,000 inhabitants by temporarily relocating forces to the island nation.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has prompted Europe’s militaries to reassess the state of their capability inventories in addition to their ability to get battle-ready fast. Last October, German air force and naval troops performed a rapid deployment to Estonia, participating in a month-long exercise dubbed “Baltic Tiger” to check how quickly the services could provide reinforcements to allies in need.
Last yr, the Luftwaffe also performed its first-ever deployment to the Indo-Pacific, completing its goal of reaching Singapore lower than 24 hours after takeoff from Neuburg Air Base, in Bavaria.
Vivienne Machi is a reporter based in Stuttgart, Germany, contributing to Defense News’ European coverage. She previously reported for National Defense Magazine, Defense Each day, Via Satellite, Foreign Policy and the Dayton Each day News. She was named the Defence Media Awards’ best young defense journalist in 2020.