The reference to the lack of radar coverage this far north is a well known problem all in the public domain, not classified as some PMs have suggested after my earlier post. Below are the open sources I am talking about.
From Hansard:
The cold war radar station of RAF Saxa Vord on the Shetland island of Unst will be put on care and maintenance from April 2006, subject to consultation with the trade unions. This will mean that the station is effectively closed, but that the main operational part of the estate will continue to be maintained should it be required for future use. Radar cover at the level required can be provided by other RAF radars augmented by those of the National Air Traffic Services. Placing the station on care and maintenance means that we would be able to re-instate a radar capability should the threat assessment change.
From the CIA Factbook:
Under a 1951 bilateral agreement, Iceland's defense was provided by a US-manned Icelandic Defense Force (IDF) headquartered in Keflavik; in October 2006, all US military forces in Iceland were withdrawn; nonetheless, the US and Iceland signed a Joint Understanding to strengthen their bilateral defense relationship.
RAF Website:
Full listings of RAF sites and locations.
ICAO Website:
The combined Reykjavik and Søndrestrøm FIR’s is one of the larger Oceanic Control Areas in the world. The surface area is approximately 5,4 millj km2 extending from the 61° N parallel up to the North pole. In the vast majority of the FIR no ground based surveillance, such as radar, is supported. However in the most dense traffic areas of the Reykjavik FIR radar surveillance is supported. This has been accomplished by retrieving radar data from six military radars located in Iceland and in the Faeroe Islands. The radar
located in the Faeroe Islands is of critical importance as it covers the south east section of the East Sector where air traffic from the adjacent FIR’s in Scotland and Norway is handed over to the Reykjavik Area Control Center and vice versa. Therefore crossing of traffic patterns is quite frequent in this sector. The operation of the Faeroese radar was terminated in the beginning of 2007 and ISAVIA is now forced to take appropriate actions to restore surveillance in the area.
http://www.icao.int/icdb/HTML/French...94.APPB.FR.PDF