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Germany to Base Warships Plus Submarines and Recon Aircraft in Iceland for Arctic Security.
Germany and Iceland have agreed to expand defense cooperation, allowing German naval and air assets to operate from Icelandic bases. The move enhances NATO’s ability to monitor Russian maritime activity and safeguard vital undersea infrastructure across the North Atlantic.
On 20 October 2025, Germany and Iceland moved to significantly deepen their security cooperation in the Arctic and North Atlantic, a step framed by Berlin as a direct response to rising risks to maritime infrastructure and increased Russian activity. The agreement foresees the stationing of German reconnaissance aircraft in Iceland and wider use of Icelandic ports and logistics by the Bundeswehr, opening a forward operating hub for naval units and air patrols across the GIUK gap. This initiative matters for NATO’s early warning posture and seabed protection at a time when the Arctic’s strategic value is accelerating. The development was reported by the German Ministry of Defence.
The German Navy plans to employ its frigates, submarines and maritime patrol aircraft in an integrated manner to sharpen situational awareness across the North Atlantic (Picture Source: German MoD)
During his visit to Reykjavik on 19 October, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir signed a memorandum of understanding anchoring closer cooperation in maritime logistics, air and maritime surveillance, and the protection of critical infrastructure, including cyber defence. Berlin intends to increase its military presence on the island, leveraging Keflavík Air Base for long-range patrols and Iceland’s modern port infrastructure to resupply frigates, submarines and auxiliaries. Iceland, a founding NATO member without standing armed forces, remains an essential waypoint and sensor node for allied surveillance across the North Atlantic and into the Arctic approaches.
A central pillar of the plan is the phased deployment of German maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft to Iceland to expand persistent anti-submarine and surface surveillance. While the German Ministry of Defence has not yet specified the exact aircraft model to be stationed, options could include the newly delivered P-8A Poseidon, legacy P-3C Orion platforms still in limited service, or even Eurofighter Typhoons configured for reconnaissance tasks, depending on mission requirements and availability. Germany has begun fielding the P-8A Poseidon, the multi-mission aircraft that replaces the P-3C Orion and brings longer range, higher on-station endurance and modern sensors linked to NATO networks. The first of eight German P-8As was delivered in early October 2025, with crews training alongside the U.S. Navy and operational basing planned at Nordholz. Rotational use of Keflavík would let these aircraft, or other reconnaissance assets, monitor key sea lanes, shadow fleets and high-value undersea infrastructure more efficiently than flying solely from Germany.
At sea, the German Navy plans to employ its frigates, submarines and new maritime patrol aircraft in an integrated manner to sharpen situational awareness across the North Atlantic. Frigates equipped for air defence and anti-surface warfare can screen shipping and protect cable and pipeline corridors, while submarines contribute covert tracking and sea-denial capability. Linked with P-8A patrols and NATO undersea surveillance systems, these assets create a layered sensor and response web over the GIUK gap, improving cueing, classification and deterrence against hostile submarines and unmarked “shadow fleet” vessels. The concept leverages Iceland’s logistics to keep ships and aircrews closer to patrol boxes, increasing sortie rates and reducing transit time.
Germany’s move rests on a long operational lineage and a rapid procurement trajectory. After decades of operating the Orion, the Marineflieger is transitioning to the Poseidon through an accelerated program: an initial order in 2021 was expanded in 2023, and the first aircraft (63+01) was handed over in October 2025 following mission-system integration and flight testing in the United States. Crews are undergoing a structured conversion syllabus in Jacksonville before the fleet beds in at Nordholz. This sequencing, training pipeline, first deliveries, and forward employment, explains how Berlin can bring credible maritime ISR to Iceland on short notice while continuing domestic acceptance and fleet build-up.
The advantages of the German initiative are immediate. Operationally, Iceland offers a low-friction forward node that cuts hours off transit to patrol areas, translating into more time on station and denser coverage of choke points. Logistically, using Icelandic ports as points of call for frigates, submarines and supply vessels shortens resupply cycles and supports multi-ship tasking without over-extending German bases. Politically, a visible German footprint in the High North underlines allied burden-sharing and stabilizes NATO’s northern flank at a moment of heightened seabed vulnerability and contestation over dual-use shipping.
Strategically, the implications extend beyond bilateral ties. Geopolitically, the arrangement reinforces NATO’s control of the GIUK gap, the maritime air bridge between North America and Europe, complicating any Russian attempt to push submarines into the North Atlantic undetected or to threaten transatlantic reinforcement routes. Geostrategically, bringing German assets forward enhances the alliance’s early-warning lattice over critical cables and pipelines that underpin European economies and military command-and-control, an area made more fragile by covert “shadow fleet” activity and grey-zone tactics. Militarily, the combination of reconnaissance aircraft, potentially P-8As, Orions or Eurofighters, with surface and subsurface units increases find-fix-finish cycles against submarines and suspicious commercial traffic, improves cueing for allied navies, and supports rapid crisis response north of the Arctic Circle, all while respecting Iceland’s choice to strengthen security without building national armed forces.
This step transforms Iceland from an episodic stopover into a routine German operating hub in the far north, tightening NATO’s surveillance net where it matters most and signaling sustained allied attention to the Arctic and North Atlantic. As Berlin fields new aircraft and cycles frigates and submarines through Icelandic ports, the alliance gains persistence, resilience and credibility in a region where time, distance and depth have long favored the adversary.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.