Denmark has taken delivery of the first of four new ground-based air defence systems, the Danish Ministry of Defence Materiel and Procurement Agency (FMI) said on 9 October. The delivered system is the Norwegian-American NASAMS.
— It’s not as simple as just saying buy, buy, buy. It’s just as much about building, building, building. About training, training, training. And about recruiting, recruiting, recruiting. The procurement is only the first step, says Colonel Jan Toft, head of the Air Defence Wing.
The remaining three are France’s VL MICA from MBDA, Germany’s IRIS-T SLM and the French SAMP/T NG. NASAMS, VL MICA and IRIS-T SLM cover medium ranges of 5–50 km. SAMP/T NG provides long-range cover.
Danish politicians allocated DKK 58.2 billion to the programme in 2024. According to FMI, it is the largest weapons procurement in Danish history.
The Air Defence Wing, which operates the systems, is expanding to the former air base at Tirstrup. The new systems must pass legal approval and security accreditation before integration. Contracts for support equipment have yet to be signed.
Air Defence Wing soldiers trained on NASAMS in Norway over the past year. Training is now continuing in Denmark. Danish personnel have also been sent to France to learn SAMP/T. The wing already has an operational NASAMS unit, as previously reported by NDS.