Arne O. Holm says Danish Drone Incursions Reveal an Embarrassing Defense Policy Blind Zone
Drones can be purchased over the counter. Yet, the Danish Armed Forces appear to be quite helpless when they are used in hybrid warfare. (Archive photo of the long-range drone MQ-FC Triton: Mitchell Austin/US Marine Corps)
Comment: On Thursday night, the Danish Police, defense, and intelligence organized a press conference. The topic was the recent drone incursions at Danish airports and defense installations. Neither the uniforms nor the dark suits could hide the fact that Denmark is entirely lost in regard to what hit them earlier this week.
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The past days have seen drones circling Danish airports like a swarm of mosquitoes at the Finnmark Plateau. First, at the Norwegians' tax-free paradise, Kastrup Airport outside of Copenhagen.
Then, the drones turned toward far more strategic, but smaller airports.
Military targets
Aalborg, where the Danish Jaeger Corps and something the Danes call the Special Operations Command are located.
More anecdotally, perhaps, but this is also where the Danish Armed Forces in Greenland, the sled patrol Sirius, receives its training. A patrol that, to keep with the historic line, was established to prevent a Norwegian invasion in Greenland.
Then, a new attack, this time at Skydsturp, an apron for the Danish F-35 aircraft.
An incursion, in other words, against central Danish defense units.
Therefore, I thought the ability for defense or retaliation was at its peak.
Attack on central defense units.
That was nowhere near the case. The Danish press conference I referred to earlier revealed a security policy void that must feel more terrifying than an alcoholic's encounter with an empty bar at the beginning of a planned bender.
But where a Danish drunk can shop for his medicine on every corner, the Danish government hardly knows who sells the necessary equipment to expose the drone operators, let alone how to fight back.
Drone war
This follows how Russia's attack on Ukraine has long since revealed that drones are the winners of war. They are how Russia precisely hits civil targets in Ukraine. And they are how Ukraine puts Russian oil refineries and the Russian navy out of action. Ukraine has no navy, but still manages, with the help of drones, to wage war resistance at sea.
Wandering around blindly.
To the extent that the Danes, who had lined up a panel worthy of a war at the press conference that evening, had anything to report, it was that they "are facing a serious security policy situation."
Deeply serious, I thought, because the four panelists were seemingly wandering around blindly. A chief of police, a chief of defense, a chief of the Danish Intelligence Service, and a police chief of intelligence. Together and individually, they served as a parody of the legendary TV show Fawlty Towers, starring John Cleese, with the supporting character Manuel, who constantly exclaimed, "I know nothing!"
Because neither did the Danish foursome. They didn't know where the drones were dispatched from, who sent them, or where they eventually retreated.
Pouring money
They largely knew what we all knew, that this was very serious.
A very serious situation.
And this is a country that is part of the Nordic defense alliance and is pouring more money into military equipment than ever. Most recently, the Danish PM Mette Frederiksen announced investments in long-distance rockets, a purely offensive weapon.
This has never happened before in Denmark, but it is unlikely to improve preparedness against drones, which can be purchased by anyone over the counter.
Insiders in the Norwegian defense tell me that the situation is not much better in Norway.
What has happened in Denmark is a serious warning that it is not just about appropriations when defense budgets are increased.
It is just as important that the appropriations are used correctly.
