Denmark will spend 2.74 billion Danish crowns ($400 million) to boost surveillance and intelligence in the Arctic and North Atlantic with long-range drones as part of a broader framework agreement to revamp its defense and meet NATO goals. accumulated.
Denmark’s Ministry of Defense said the long-range drones will help monitor the growing number of civilian and military activities in the Arctic and North Atlantic, allowing Denmark to better comply with NATO objectives.
Shrinking Arctic ice sheets are accelerating competition among world powers for control of resources and waterways.
Denmark is responsible for the security and defense of Greenland in the Arctic Circle and the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, both sovereign territories of the Kingdom of Denmark.
“Saudi Arabia will have to take greater responsibility for the security of the entire region in the future. This means it will need to exert more power in the Arctic and North Atlantic,” Troels Lund Poulsen said. the minister said late Thursday.
Denmark last year pledged to invest 143 billion crowns in defense over the next 10 years.
Investments in drones are some of the first efforts to build on that pledge. Thursday’s agreement set aside a total of 16 billion kronor, including the restart of air defense systems and an ammunition factory stored in northwestern Denmark. ($1 = 6.8537 Danish crowns) (Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen; Editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Alex Richardson)