Page 84 - Air Forces Monthly - September 2017

CF-188 IN ICELAND

of Escadron de Chasse 1/2 based at Dijon.
The deployment concluded at the end
of June. In January 2013 NATO officially
designated the periodic deployments
to Iceland as Airborne Surveillance and
Interception Capabilities to meet Iceland’s
Peacetime Preparedness Needs (ASIC-
IPPN). To date, nine different countries
have conducted 28 NATO deployments.
Operation Reassurance
The most recent ASIC-PPN deployment was
executed by Canada as part of Operation
Reassurance, and continued the work A CF-188 starts up for a mission from Kefl avík. The
previously performed in Iceland under personnel of 433 Squadron and 3 Wing operated
Operation Ignition during 2011 and 2013. from the shelter area on the southwest of Kefl avík
Operation Reassurance refers to a series of Airport. This was previously home to the USAF’s 57th
FIS, which was inactivated in 1995.
military activities undertaken by the Canadian
Armed Forces since 2014. On April 17 that Rebirth of a squadron
year the Canadian government offered The first Canadian ATF-Iceland deployment
Canadian Armed Forces assets to NATO to under Operation Reassurance began in
support alliance assurance and deterrence early May when CC-177 Globemaster III
measures aimed at maintaining stability and and CC-150 Polaris aircraft transported
security in Central and Eastern Europe. support equipment and quartermasters
On July 8, 2016, at NATO’s Warsaw Summit, to Keflavík Airport to prepare for the
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced arrival of 155 personnel and six CF-188s
that Canada would continue to support from 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron and
NATO via Operation Reassurance until at 3 Wing at CFB Bagotville, Quebec.
least the end of March 2019. As part of The squadron has a rich Second World War
this renewal of the Operation Reassurance history and then flew the Avro Canada CF-100
mandate, the Canadian Armed Forces, under from 1954 until disbandment in July 1961.
the command of Canadian Joint Operations The unit was resurrected in September 1969
Command (CJOC) can send land, sea and air as 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron and was
components to wherever they are needed. equipped with the Canadair CF-116A/B (CF-5)
Part of Operation Reassurance’s air Above: A Canadian pilot in front of ‘his’ Hornet in the offensive air and reconnaissance roles.
component is Air Task Force (ATF)-Iceland. before boarding for a training mission over Iceland. It flew these aircraft until the arrival of the
This task force, when active, consists Canadian CF-188s have participated in numerous CF-188 in 1984. Assigned a North American
of between 150 and 180 personnel, up operations since the early ’90s, including the 1991 Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) role
to six CF-188 Hornets, aircraft support Gulf War, in the Balkans during the late 1990s, the since 1988, and part of NATO’s Rapid Reaction
confl ict with Libya, and most recently the fi ght
teams and fighter controllers. against IS from 2014 until 2016. Force, the unit participated in the 1991
Gulf War during Operation
Friction, Operation Echo
over Kosovo and
Operation
Noble Eagle
over North
America.

84 // SEPTEMBER 2017 #354 www.airforcesmonthly.com