news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

According to a report by China Review News on August 16, four F-35B stealth fighters belonging to the 617th Squadron of the British Air Force recently flew to Iceland to participate in NATO's "Air Policing Operation" in the region. As for the UK's first deployment of fifth-generation aircraft in Iceland, it is generally believed that this move is to complete the task of patrolling Iceland assigned by NATO, and to test the F-35B fighter's land take-off and landing capabilities and "enhance its flexible deployment capabilities." However, it should be pointed out that the UK's move is probably not that simple.

On the one hand, at the end of last month, the United States just released the "Arctic Strategy 2024", which clearly pointed out that the Arctic is a "region of great strategic significance" for the United States. The United States and its allies plan to deploy more than 250 "advanced multi-purpose fighters" to the region by 2030. The total area of ​​the Arctic continent and islands is about 8 million square kilometers, belonging to eight countries including Russia, the United States, Canada, and Iceland. The United States has just established the "important strategic position" of the Arctic in writing and threatened to deploy a large number of advanced multi-purpose fighters to the region. The British F-35B has arrived. This is probably not a coincidence.

On the other hand, Iceland can play a key role in the competition for Arctic routes and resources. Iceland connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean, with Northern Europe and Russia to the east, North America to the west, and Scotland 800 kilometers to the south. Therefore, this location determines that it can play an important role in route planning and material supply of the Arctic route; even if there is a competition with Russia, Iceland can also become a NATO outpost and stronghold. In fact, US nuclear submarines have been stationed in Iceland, and Iceland's Keflavik Air Force Base also has a certain stealth fighter maintenance capability.