PARIS — The Danish government has decided the country needs long-range strike weapons to strengthen its deterrence posture as well as the collective deterrence of NATO, based on a recommendation from Chief of Defence Gen. Michael Hyldgaard.
The Danish armed forces will now decide how to buy and integrate long-range precision weapons in the force, Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement on Wednesday.
The decision in principle follows an announcement earlier this month to invest around 58 billion kroner (US$9.2 billion) in eight medium- and long-range air defense systems.
The Danish plan to add long-range strike comes as European military leaders increasingly recognize that point defense won’t suffice to protect cities against massed swarms of missiles and drones, a tactic Russia uses in Ukraine to overwhelm air defenses. In that logic, neutralizing enemy launch capabilities at range will be essential.
“Together with the ground-based air defense, Denmark is strengthening its ability not only to counter threats from the air, but also to more actively combat threats far from Denmark,” Lund Poulsen said.
The Ukrainian experience shows the importance of layered air defense that can both defend against threats in the air, as well as preventively defeat such threats on enemy territory before launch, the Defence Ministry said. That includes the ability to defeat targets such as enemy missile launchers.
Buying long-range precision weapons is a request by NATO, and Denmark is buying them to deter and avoid a situation where they’re needed, according to Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. The Danish capability will contribute to Europe’s ambition to be able to defend itself by 2030 at the latest, he said.
The Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation will now research the market to determine which weapons best suit the Danish needs, the government said.
Possible long-range strike candidates might include the Tomahawk cruise missile, which could equip the Danish Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates. Another option is long-range munitions compatible with the country’s F-35 fighter jets such as the JASSM-ER stand-off missile.
Pan-European missile maker MBDA has been marketing a land-launched version of its naval cruise missile, and at the DSEI UK defense show last week unveiled a low-cost effector with an 800-kilometer plus range called Crossbow, with an aim to be ready for production at scale in the second quarter of 2026.
France, Germany, Italy and Poland are cooperating on the European Long-Range Strike Approach, though the timeline for that project remains unclear.
A German-British agreement signed in July to develop “deep precision strike” weapon with a range of more than 2,000 kilometers as part of ELSA is expected to result in a capability “within a decade.”
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
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