The picture shows a German A400M aircraft. (File Photo)

The German Bundeswehr concluded the 14-day Rapid Viking Exercise in Iceland on August 10. During the exercise, Germany deployed six Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft and two A400M aircraft to train their rapid deployment capability to Iceland. The A400M aircraft delivered 25 tons of supplies and personnel to Iceland to support the deployment of the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. Notably, these 25 tons of supplies were packaged in just two days and loaded onto the aircraft in only one hour, indicating the significantly improved speed of deployment.

Germany has focused on improving its ability to rapidly deploy forces overseas in recent years. The German Navy and Air Force practiced the rapid deployment to Estonia in a drill last year. German fighter jets also successfully reached Singapore within 24 hours after taking off from their home base. Military observer Yin Zhuo analyzed that since the current German government came into power, especially since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Germany has significantly increased its military investment. In the future, Germany's rapid responsiveness could become even stronger to ensure its role as a core member state in the European direction and enhance its position in the global strategy of the US.

Yin pointed out that Germany's exercise of rapid deployment to Iceland could also be part of its standard action within the NATO Air Policing framework.

It is reported that NATO's Air Policing mission involves deploying fighter jets to NATO member states with weaker air combat capabilities, such as Albania, Estonia, and Iceland, to safeguard their airspace. Iceland does not have a standing military, and NATO is responsible for its airspace security. As a core member of NATO, it has become a regular task for Germany.

"Air Policing is a product of the Cold War. However, it has evolved from preventing NATO member states from aerial strikes to military deployment actions with a strong offensive element against Russia," Yin said. "The so-called air policing force is actually a rapid reaction force. Countries with weaker air defense capabilities within NATO have different nations nearby responsible for their air policing tasks. After the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the targets of the task have shifted to Russia and some friendly countries of Russia in Europe," said Yin.

Yin believes that this Air Policing force, while appearing defensive, is essentially an offensive force. During wartime, the air forces of various countries can form a powerful striking force. Iceland has long been an important outpost for NATO to contain Russia. In the future, Iceland could also be turned into a forward operating base to counter Russia.

"Large early-warning radars are deployed against Russia in Iceland, as Iceland faces the North Sea and the Barents Sea, which are strongholds for Russia's ballistic missile submarines. NATO's early warning aircraft and electronic reconnaissance aircraft have also been active here for a long time to conduct multi-directional reconnaissance. Therefore, Iceland could become an important operational base for NATO in the future," Yin said.

Editor's note: Originally published on military.cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.