US To Expand & Upgrade Runways of Old Cold War Base in Iceland

Defence Blog

The U.S. government is planning to expand runways and platforms of old Cold War base in Iceland so the base can handle heavy aircraft up to and including a C-5, according to a U.S. government’s main contracting website notice issued earlier this month.

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In a notice posted on the Federal website, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic (NAVFAC LANT) intends to issue a request for proposal for expand and upgrade runways located at Keflavik base in Iceland.
Naval Air Station Keflavik is a U.S. Navy base located at Keflavík International Airport in Iceland. It is located on the Reykjanes peninsula on the south-west portion of the island.
Built during World War II by the United States Army, it served to ferry personnel, equipment, and supplies to Europe.
The U.S. Armed Forces operated the Naval Air Station in Keflavík as a NATO base from 1951 to 2006. Its location was considered to be of great importance during the Cold War. Once an air station home to U.S. Airmen, the permanent military presence at Keflavik ended in 2006, but the basic infrastructure needed to patrol the skies remains.

In 2017 the United States announced its intention to modify the largest hangar on the airbase in order to house the new Boeing P-8 Poseidon ASW aircraft being introduced.

And now, the U.S. government has plans to boost the facilities at Keflavik so that one squadron of aerial refueling tankers can be stationed there and wider effort to boost the US presence in key maritime passageways into the high north.

Expected that will construct a full-depth concrete pavement/subbase aircraft parking apron expansion that supports powered on and off operations for a squadron of US Air Force or North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aerial refueler equivalent aircraft.

Also will construct a 40,000 square meter graveled area consisting of a full-depth aggregate base course with crushed stone drainage course enclosed by a perimeter security fence.

Dangerous Cargo Pad will construct full-depth concrete pavement/subbase dangerous cargo pad (DCP) with paved asphalt shoulders sized for aircraft up to and including a C-5 Galaxy. A full-depth asphalt pavement/subbase taxiway will be provided for access from the primary taxiway to the DCP.

According to Breaking Defense report, the new work adds to a growing list of US-funded projects at Keflavik, where the Navy has already spent about $36 million over the past several years to renovate hangars to accommodate American P-8 surveillance planes, which have started using the base more frequently for short rotations. It is also regularly used by both the US and NATO fighter aircraft patrolling the far north.