US sailors, marines, airmen, and soldiers have arrived in Keflavik, Iceland, joining forces with the Icelandic Coast Guard and other NATO allies to officially begin US Sixth Fleet’s Northern Viking 2026 (NV26) exercise during an opening ceremony on Tuesday, August 18.
Participating nations in NV26 include Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Norway, Poland, and the United States, alongside specialised assets and personnel from Allied Maritime Command and NATO Joint Force Command Norfolk.
This year’s iteration of the biennial exercise will run from August 22 to September 3.
NV26 will challenge joint and coalition forces with a series of highly realistic training scenarios. Key training opportunities will focus on anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, expeditionary construction, search and rescue, humanitarian medical response, and disaster response.
The exercise is designed to strengthen interoperability and force readiness between the United States, Iceland, and other allied nations. The exercise will enable critical multi-domain command and control of joint and coalition forces defending Iceland and safeguarding the sea lines of communication within the Greenland, Iceland, and United Kingdom (GIUK) gap.
The US Navy said that, as the GIUK gap is a vital global shipping corridor, keeping it secure is imperative for trans-Atlantic trade, commerce, and security between North America and Europe.
First held in 1982, Northern Viking is a biennial joint and coalition live exercise centered around the provisions of the 1951 Defense Agreement between Iceland and the United States. It remains a key venue for testing defence plans, reinforcing allied cohesion, and refining tactics in the North Atlantic.
