Prague, Feb 16 (CTK) – Czech Gripen fighters are to police the airspace over Iceland as of October again, with the first soldiers from an advance group being scheduled to fly to Iceland in September, Tomas Maruscak, from the general staff press department, has told CTK.
By the end of September, the pilots with the JAS-39 Gripen fighters will fly to Iceland, Maruscak said.
“The flight of an advanced group along with the first part of the task force is being planned for Iceland,” he added.
“This will be followed by the flight of the JAS-39 Gripen fighters and the remaining part of the task force. Thanks to this, the first certification flights are to take place at the end of September or in early October,” Maruscak said.
“This is to be followed by the state of alert in Iceland that will last minimally 21 days,” he added.
The exact times of the flights have not yet been fixed because the Iceland mission is in the stage of planning and preparations.
Like in the previous Iceland mission, five aircraft and up to 75 soldiers are to be deployed.
The Czech military has leased 14 Gripen fighters from Sweden. They have been used in four foreign missions, always policing the airspace of NATO members.
From 2009 to 2012, they were deployed over the Baltic countries and two years ago over Iceland.
The mission that took place last August was not planned as Czech pilots replaced their Canadian counterparts thanks to which Canada could deploy them in the fight against Islamic State.
Since Iceland, a founding member of NATO, does not have its own military, its airspace is protected by its allies. Their missions cover not only the island itself, but also a 200-kilometre band around it.
