June 17, 2011 defpro.com
Another challenging, long distance deployment for the Typhoon. Four aircraft in service with the Italian Air Force recently participated in the "Northern Viking" exercise held in Iceland from the 2nd to 10th of June.
The four fighters, with the support of a KC-130J air tanker and together with other Italian Armed Force assets, flew for the first time to Keflavik Air Base, in western Iceland.
The “Northern Viking 2011” is a joint exercise based on a bilateral treaty between the Government of Iceland and the USEUCOM - US European Command - to train and operate seamlessly with other multinational assets.
For the Italian Typhoons this training activity was an important opportunity to develop the ability to redeploy at a considerable distance from Italy and in operational conditions in stark contrast to those in Italy during the summer. As usual, for the Eurofighter Typhoons, this deployment was completed with a very high operational availability rate.
The “Northern Viking 2011” exercise developed realistic scenarios with a focus on validation of the air support tactics. During the exercise, Eurofighter pilots worked closely with naval forces and field-tested appropriate tactics for the current operational requirements.
The nations participating in the exercise were Italy; Iceland; United States; Norway; Finland and Denmark.
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