Denmark will spend €7.71 billion (DKK 58 billion) on European ground-based air and missile defence, including SAMP/T, with medium-range systems to be chosen.

Denmark will acquire eight Europe‑made ground‑based air and missile systems in what defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen called the largest defence investment in Danish history. The €7.71 billion (DKK 58 billion) package includes Franco‑Italian SAMP/T long‑range batteries. For medium range, the government will choose one or more of NASAMS from Norway’s Kongsberg with Raytheon, Germany’s IRIS‑T, or France’s VL MICA. The first system should be operational this year, with further units phased in.

The move follows Poland downing “hostile objects” that violated Polish airspace during a Russian assault on Ukraine, an unprecedented incursion that led Warsaw to trigger NATO’s Article 4. Fighting in Ukraine, strains on the European Union’s eastern border, and NATO leaders’ pledge to lift hard military outlays to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 underpin the plan.

NATO estimates put Denmark’s 2024 defence spending at 2.37% of GDP. Lund Poulsen said lessons from Ukraine show ground‑based air defence is vital to protect civilians from Russian air attacks.

Parties across Denmark’s spectrum, from the Radical Left to the nationalist Danish People’s party, welcomed the purchase. Lise Bech of the right‑wing Danish Democrats said the country had lacked proper air defence for years, urging quick compliance with NATO expectations and protection against foreign powers.

Source: Euractiv.