The many incidents with the Russian military over the last few weeks are not a coincidence. It looks like a prelude to intervention in Belarus.
Denmark
U.S. approves sale of SM2 missiles to Denmark
The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of SM2 missiles to Denmark. The plan is to use them to increase the capabilities of Denmark’s Iver Huitfeldt class frigates which so far have sailed around with empty Mark 41 launchers.
Warship diplomacy: British intervention in the Baltic from 1800-1801
Article recommendation: This account of the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 is worth reading. Alliances change, technology develops, yet human nature makes the French Revolutionary Wars discouragingly relevant today.
Danish defense minister says it will take many years to improve relationship with Russia
Danish minister of defense Claus Hjort Frederiksen on Monday: Russia has chosen a path fundamentally different from ours. A path where international cooperation has become a zero sum game. […] Furthermore, Moscow has demonstrated an appetite for taking risks. I find it disturbing that that we now face a situation with much less dialogue between […]
Helicopter scandals for everyone, Black Hawk to the rescue
Helicopters are a common problem for the scandinavian countries. Everyone seems struggling with deliveries, reliability, and costs. It is not a flattering story for European helicopters NH90 and AW101, and the American Black Hawk and Seahawk may be the solution everyone is turning to. Recently it made headlines that Sweden is considering not using NH90 […]
Denmark wants military multipurpose ships
Denmark cancels the ongoing procurement of new pollution control vessels to investigate the possibility of building military multipurpose ships. This surprising piece of news came in the new defense agreement that was the announced earlier this week. While Denmark desperately needs new ships for the anti-pollution task, there are some potentially visionary possibilities is the […]
Denmark increases military spending, still far from 2 percent
Denmark has a new political Defense Agreement for 2018-2023. The old agreement ran out four weeks ago, and it is unusual in Denmark that a new agreement is not in place before the last one expires. The politicians have decided to increase the Danish defense budget as a reaction to a perceived threat from Russia. […]
Ocean capable corvettes could be affordable force enablers
Yesterday the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Soobrazitelnyy, a corvette from the Baltic Fleet, had passed through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean. This was the latest in a series of press releases covering the journey of two Steregushchiy class corvettes and an auxiliary vessel from the Baltic Fleet. The […]
Historic procurement of Nordic Combat Uniforms reaches prequalification
The Nordic Combat Uniform (NCU) project is moving ahead with an official invitation to possible candidates for prequalification. The goal is that Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden will buy new combat uniforms together, albeit with national variations in colors and camouflage patterns. By making the procurement together the Nordic countries hope to attract big players […]
Strange message about deterrence from Danish general
Danish Chief of Defense Bjørn Bisserup has given a comprehensive interview to defense website DefenseWatch (in Danish). The interview was published on the same day that I published my review of Gerasimov’s speech, and what a difference. Unfortunately it seems to me that the Russian general has a much more realistic approach to the challenges […]
