US, Iceland Sign Declaration for Mutual Defense, Navy Operations - Pentagon

The United States and Iceland announcement an agreement that sets out a security framework for enhanced bilateral cooperation and continued US and NATO access to Iceland’s facilities, the US Department of Defense said in a press release on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The joint declaration reaffirmed the US 65-year-old commitment to the defense of Iceland, the Defense Department noted.

"Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Icelandic Foreign Affairs Minister Lilja Alfredsdottir signed a joint declaration between the Defense Department and the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs on June 29," the release stated.

The US Navy requested funds in the 2017 military budget to upgrade an aircraft hangar in the Keflavik Airport, which served as a US Naval base until 2006, according to media reports. The upgrade would reportedly allow the hangar to house patrol planes hunting for submarines in the North Atlantic.