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Subject: Denmark to be defended by other Nato partners
Thomas    10/14/2011 6:49:39 PM
http://jp.dk/indland/indland_politik/article2578134.ece Sorry - it is in Danish, but the gist of it is, that the new secretary of defence proposes, at Danish airspace being defended by other Nato partners. The new secretary of Defence is Nick Hækkerup - a close relative of former secretary of Defence Hans Hækkerup - who is unfortunately very ill. Hans Hækkerup is generally recognised as one of the best defence secretaries in Nato (among friend and foe), f.i. he is fluent in russian. If his cousin is just half as good - we are in for a treat. My take on the suggestion is that it is a roundabout way of saying the opposite. 1) The proposal reveals a deep understanding of Air Defence: Splitting up in a number of point defences is not a very good idea. You have to have area coverage, as range with a lethal weaponsload (of PGM) is so great today that outflanking of defences in flight is rather the rule than the exception. 2) The Danish forces face a cut of ½ billion USD annually. One point is that the investment in F-35 is being curtailed in numbers due to the high price of the aircraft. I consider this a caustic message to our alliede honorable freinds: We can do this; but - no way - are we going to be a cash cow for your defence industies. The new helicopters have been overpriced, and the manufacturers have NOT lived up to the promises of buy-back. 3) As Denmark rules the Baltic Sea - it makes sense to have that air defence under our wings - for the simple reason: It will be cheaper for all parties concerned. It will make sense to have maintainence and shop facilities in Denmark - out of range of a possible enemy: The small Baltic nations have no aircraft based air defence, and we are getting fed up with having to foot that bill, which is in the obvious interest of all Baltic coastal states. 4) Air defence is one area, where danish quality has never been faulted - so instead of investing in a mediocre solution yourselves, why not outsource? 5) Denmark and Norway have paid more than their fair share in Irak, Afghanistan, Ex-Yugoslavia, anti-pirate warfare in Somalia - and now lately in Libya (not to mention in the Arctic). That is money-wise as well as in casualties. We have done that without murmur; but in the end, there is no such thing as a free lunch. So I think he means the direct opposite: Gentlement - grab your wallets - and start the moneypump.
 
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