those of us who grew up on cold war thrillers will certainly remember keflavik in iceland

Navy Aircraft Returning to Former Cold War Base in Iceland
Steven Beardsley, Stars & Stripes, Feb 10 2016

NAPLES – The Navy is turning to a former Cold War air base for a familiar mission: hunting Russian submarines. The service is asking for funds to upgrade an aircraft hangar at its former base in Keflavik, Iceland, as part of the DoD’s FY 2017 budget request, according to boxtops. The hangar will house the P-8 Poseidon, successor to the sub-hunting P-3 Orion once stationed at the base. Naval Air Station Keflavik was home to thousands of service members who supported Navy and Air Force fighter jets, tankers and rescue helicopters before closing in 2006. The Navy now routinely sends P-3’s to Keflavik from its air base in Sigonella, Sicily, to patrol for Russian subs in the north Atlantic, said a boxtop. The P-8 will fill the same role once the hangar is updated with new wiring, flooring and a rinse station, said the boxtop. Russian submarines are patrolling the north Atlantic more frequently than at any time since the end of the Cold War, Pindo & Euro ‘defense’ boxtops say. Suspected Russian subs have been spotted repeatedly off the coast of the UK, as well as Norway and Finland in the past year. (What about the Jihadi submarines, full of immigrant Jihadis? The Channel is choc-a-bloc with them! – RB) Deputy Sec Def Wonk visited Keflavik last September to explore new uses for the installation. Icelandic media reported that he raised the possibility of reopening the base. For now, the Navy is interested only in deploying maritime patrol aircraft for short durations, as needed, the boxtop said. The Navy could eventually establish regular patrol rotations at the base, the boxtop said, which would likely resemble the Navy’s maritime patrol force at its air base in Sigonella, where squadrons rotate out every six months. The Navy’s return to Keflavik revives a Pindo presence that ended when the service shifted its focus in Europe away from the north Atlantic and toward the Mediterranean. Established in 1951, the base is strategically located, making it ideal for patrolling the frigid waters between Greenland, Iceland and Britain. Iceland’s government has maintained the property since the Navy departed, keeping many facilities like hangars intact and in place. Iceland, though formally a NATO member, has no military. Keflavik was home to about 2,500 Navy and Air Force personnel when the base closing was announced in 2006. One year later, the Navy moved its Europe headquarters from London to Naples, where it oversees bases in Spain, Sicily and Greece.