Denmark to field long-range strike weapons in bid to deter attacks

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.

巴黎——丹麦政府根据国防部长迈克尔·希尔德加德将军的建议，决定该国需要远程打击武器来加强其威慑态势以及北约的集体威慑。

丹麦国防部长特罗尔斯·伦德·波尔森周三在一份声明中表示，丹麦武装部队现在将决定如何采购远程精确武器并将其整合到部队中。

此前，本月早些时候宣布将投资约 580 亿克朗（92 亿美元）用于建设八个中远程防空系统，而原则上，这一决定正是在此之后做出的。

丹麦计划增加远程打击能力，与此同时，欧洲军事领导人日益认识到，仅靠点防御不足以保护城市免受大规模导弹和无人机群的攻击——俄罗斯在乌克兰就利用这种战术压制敌方防空系统。基于此，远程压制敌方发射能力至关重要。

伦德·波尔森表示：“丹麦正与地面防空部队携手，加强自身能力，不仅应对来自空中的威胁，而且更积极地打击远离丹麦的威胁。”

乌克兰国防部表示，乌克兰的经验表明，多层防空体系至关重要，它既能防御空中威胁，也能在敌方发射导弹之前，先发制人地摧毁敌方领土上的此类威胁。这包括摧毁敌方导弹发射装置等目标的能力。

据丹麦外交大臣拉斯·勒克·拉斯穆森称，北约要求丹麦购买远程精确武器，丹麦此举旨在威慑并避免需要使用这些武器的局面。他表示，丹麦的这项能力将有助于欧洲实现最迟在2030年具备自卫能力的愿景。

丹麦政府表示，丹麦国防部采购和后勤组织将对市场进行调研，以确定哪些武器最符合丹麦的需求。

可能的远程打击武器包括战斧巡航导弹，这种导弹可以装备丹麦的伊弗·休特费尔特级护卫舰。另一种选择是与丹麦F-35战斗机兼容的远程弹药，例如JASSM-ER防区外导弹。

泛欧导弹制造商 MBDA 一直在推销其海军巡航导弹的陆基版本，并在上周的英国防务展 (DSEI) 上推出了一款名为“十字弓”的低成本导弹，射程超过 800 公里，目标是在 2026 年第二季度实现大规模生产。

法国、德国、意大利和波兰正在合作推进欧洲远程打击方案，但该项目的具体时间表仍不明确。

7 月，德国和英国签署了一项协议，作为 ELSA 项目的一部分，共同开发射程超过 2000 公里的“深度精确打击”武器，预计“十年内”将具备这种能力。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。