Lyneham Lad
19th Jul 2019, 15:22
Article on Breaking Defense (https://breakingdefense.com/2019/07/us-expands-icelandic-airfield-for-tankers-big-cargo-lift/?utm_campaign=Breaking%20Defense%20Air%20&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=74826708&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8uC2WF8giXI4VpyJg1IIqtcd-dzn8pjaeazNHOyCRBkkAwAWx0Su6CVroyMdmNfnvoxxV3PiqsLpoafQnG6Ha gdVEJ8Q&_hsmi=74826708). From the article:-
THE PENTAGON: The US is planning to expand and upgrade runways and construct temporary housing for troops at an Icelandic airfield in the coming months, part of a wider effort to boost the US presence in key maritime passageways into the high north, where Russian and Chinese activity has caught the attention of NATO.
The plans, outlined in documents posted to a government contracting Website on July 17, build on a previous effort to begin flying more P-8 surveillance sorties from the same airfield.
The Navy’s official request for proposal, expected to be released on August 1, includes three major projects at Naval Air Station Keflavik, including a $27.8 million effort to expand the apron at the airfield to support “operations for a squadron of US Air Force or North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aerial refueler equivalent aircraft,” along with airfield lighting. Another $15.6 million project would build a new Dangerous Cargo Pad able to handle aircraft as large as a C-5 Galaxy cargo plane, and the final bit of work revolves around a $6 million project to clear a 40,000 sq. meter troop housing area, surrounded by a security fence.
THE PENTAGON: The US is planning to expand and upgrade runways and construct temporary housing for troops at an Icelandic airfield in the coming months, part of a wider effort to boost the US presence in key maritime passageways into the high north, where Russian and Chinese activity has caught the attention of NATO.
The plans, outlined in documents posted to a government contracting Website on July 17, build on a previous effort to begin flying more P-8 surveillance sorties from the same airfield.
The Navy’s official request for proposal, expected to be released on August 1, includes three major projects at Naval Air Station Keflavik, including a $27.8 million effort to expand the apron at the airfield to support “operations for a squadron of US Air Force or North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aerial refueler equivalent aircraft,” along with airfield lighting. Another $15.6 million project would build a new Dangerous Cargo Pad able to handle aircraft as large as a C-5 Galaxy cargo plane, and the final bit of work revolves around a $6 million project to clear a 40,000 sq. meter troop housing area, surrounded by a security fence.