Denmark to Buy Long-Range Weapons in ‘Paradigm Shift’

Denmark is beefing up its arsenal.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that the country will acquire, for the first time, long-range precision weapons, calling it “a paradigm shift in Danish defense policy.”

She framed the move as a response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying, “There is no doubt that Russia will be a threat to Denmark and Europe for many years to come.”

Ms. Frederiksen did not specify which weapon systems the government would buy but stressed that Denmark intended to use the new weapons as a deterrent, not to launch an offensive war.

“We are not the ones attacking,” she said. “Russia is.”

Currently, Denmark’s artillery can hit targets at shorter ranges, and its F-16 fighter jets are equipped with missiles, rockets and bombs, but not long-range strike missiles, experts said.

Russia responded harshly to the Danish announcement, calling the plans “pure madness” and suggesting Denmark’s purchase was an overt threat to Moscow.

“No one, anywhere, ever in the world has considered threatening a nuclear power publicly,” Vladimir Barbin, Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, said in a statement. “These statements will no doubt be taken into account.”

Denmark is a small European country, but as a member of NATO it has recently laid out billions of dollars to rebuild its military. That move is part of a wider push across Europe, including among Denmark’s Nordic neighbors, to amp up military spending in response to rising geopolitical tensions and the United States’ increasing standoffishness toward global alliances. Earlier this month, Norway signed a $13.5 billion deal with Britain to buy a new fleet of frigates — the largest military purchase in Norway’s history.

In recent months, Denmark has ordered three new Arctic patrol ships, bought long-range drones and strengthened its satellite coverage over Greenland. The gigantic and geopolitically valuable island in the Arctic Circle, which is a semiautonomous Danish overseas territory, has recently become a sore subject with the Trump administration. President Trump has repeatedly said the United States should take over the island, but the Danish government and most Greenlanders don’t want that.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Denmark has also become one of Kyiv’s most committed backers. It has sent over $11 billion in military and civilian aid, including F-16 fighter jets, artillery and tanks.

Danish officials did not say how much they planned to spend on the long-range weapons, adding that they were still evaluating different systems.

“The goal is to buy weapons that we never have to use,” said Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the country’s foreign minister.