Denmark to complete $3.4 billion of air defense purchases by year-end
For the long-range component, Denmark expects to choose between the U.S. Patriot and the French-Italian SAMP/T system during fall 2025, the ministry told Defense News. The country intends to conclude all contracts by year-end, including a potential purchase of additional short- to medium-range systems, the MoD said.
With European policymakers observing the devastation wrought by Russian aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities, and with NATO having identified air defense as an investment priority, governments across the continent are scrambling to either bolster what they already have or put in place the means to defend their skies.
Denmark in the past two months secured air defense systems from three different producers in order to build an initial capability as soon as possible, 20 years after decommissioning its air defense units operating Hawk missile systems.
The country will lease a NASAMS system from Norway, buy two VL MICA fire units from MBDA and an IRIS-T SLM system from Germany's Diehl Defence.
'The systems will be operational from approximately around end of 2025 to the beginning of 2027, NASAMS anticipated to be the first,' the ministry said.
The bill for pulling together the initial capacity will be more than 6 million kroner, which includes operating costs for 'a certain amount of time,' the MoD said.
The four systems cover the initial capacity requirement, with no further systems in the pipeline for now, the ministry said.
For the longer term, Denmark has 'not yet fully decided' whether it needs more short- to medium-range systems, nor whether the country will continue to operate multiple systems or eventually pivot to a single system, according to the ministry.
The planned purchase of the long-range system is referred to as 'a permanent solution,' the Danish MoD said, with the combined budget for short- to medium-range and long-range systems about 19 billion to 25 billion kroner, including operating costs for a certain amount of time.
For comparison, Belgium, another country that lacks any ground-based missile defense, last month announced a budget of €2 billion (US$2.3 billion) to buy and operate 10 NASAMS systems from Kongsberg, as well as another €2 billion for three long-range air-defense systems.
Around the Baltic Sea, other countries are also building up their defenses, with Estonia on July 30 announcing plans to establish a dedicated air-defense brigade and buy additional IRIS-T, Piorun and Mistral systems, as part of €10 billion in defense spending over 2026-29.
Denmark's neighbor Sweden in June announced the purchase of seven additional IRIS-T SLM systems for around 9 billion Swedish kronor (US$805 million), while Norway that same month contracted new NASAMS systems for as much as 4.8 billion Norwegian kroner ($468 million) to replace equipment donated to Ukraine.
Denmark and Sweden acquired their IRIS-T systems under the umbrella of the German-coordinated European Sky Shield Initiative, with countries including Slovakia and Switzerland also buying the Diehl system through the initiative this year.
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