COPENHAGEN
Denmark is accelerating its ground-based air defense acquisition to strengthen the country’s security and meet NATO force goals, the Ministry of Defense’s Materiel and Procurement Agency (FMI) announced Friday.
The process follows a two-track approach, with a short-term solution aimed at deployment as early as 2025-2026, while work continues on a permanent system to be operational by 2028.
Denmark has shortlisted long-range air defense systems, including the US PATRIOT and France/Italy’s SAMP/T NG, alongside short- and medium-range systems such as Norway’s NASAMS, Germany’s IRIS-T SLM, France’s VL MICA and the US IFPC. The selection was based on NATO interoperability, security of supply, operational impact and delivery speed.
Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen stated that a final decision is expected by mid-2025, emphasizing the strategic importance of the acquisition amid heightened global security concerns.
FMI has requested detailed tenders from suppliers, including pricing, operational costs and manpower requirements. Additionally, Denmark is considering short-term solutions such as leasing, renting or purchasing systems to establish an interim air defense capability.
“The acquisition is crucial for NATO, and while speed is important, we must be thorough,” said Lieut. Gen. Per Pugholm Olsen, head of FMI.
In February, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that Denmark was allocating an extra 50 billion kroner ($7 billion) for defense spending in the next two years, citing an increasing threat from Russia.
Frederiksen told a news conference that the money was being sent to the military with the message: "Buy, buy, buy. Buy what can contribute to a stronger defense and thus to a stronger deterrence here and now. If we can't get the best equipment, buy the next best thing."
Tensions over Greenland
Denmark proposed increasing the US military presence on the island in January during an exchange of private messages to US President Donald Trump's team, American news website Axios reported.
The government wants to dissuade Trump from seizing the island by addressing his security concerns as the Nordic country, an ally of Washington in NATO and the European Union, avoids a political clash with the US, according to the report.
Greenland, the world’s largest island, has been an autonomous territory of Denmark since 1979. Located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, it is home to a US military base and holds strategic importance as it offers the shortest route from North America to Europe. In a post on Truth Social in December, Trump, who took office Jan. 20, described ownership and control of Greenland as an “absolute necessity” for the US, reiterating his desire to make the island part of the US.
Russian threats in the Baltics
Denmark’s Defense Intelligence Service (FE) warned that Europe could face a large-scale war with Russia within five years if the war in Ukraine ends or freezes and NATO fails to rearm simultaneously.
“Russia has already managed to upgrade its capacity to both modernize military equipment and has also significantly increased its military production. Russia can already today free up resources for its rearmament vis-a-vis NATO, not least because of the financial and material support the country receives from outside,” the Danish news outlet, DR, quoted the intelligence report.
DR said the FE assessed that there is currently no threat of a “regular military attack” on Denmark, but noted that Russia is the largest military power in the region and Russian President Vladimir Putin would rather not get rid of that title.
“Russia wants control over the sea areas north of its mainland. It is possible that Russia wants control all the way up to the North Pole. Russia's maritime doctrine from 2022 opens up the possibility of using all means to defend Russia's interests north of the country, including military force,” said the FE.
It said, however, that the threat of a “regular military attack” against Greenland and the Faroe Islands differs from the threat against Denmark because Russia sees the two countries in a North American context.