The Danish Ministry of Defence has unveiled their new fleet plan, which include a short-term track to quickly strengthen certain key capabilities, as well as a long-term track looking at the major surface combatants.
This comes at the heels of earlier announcements about a reorientation to a stronger Arctic capability for the Navy’s future patrol vessels and a decision to acquire new sea mines.
Short term plan
The short-term plan is centred around a need to strengthen the capability to perform missions in Danish home waters, including pollution control, mine warfare, patrol duties, as well as surveillance of critical underwater infrastructure. This will see five larger vessels of two different classes brought in, as well as the replacement of the Marinehjemmeværnet’s (the Naval Home Guard) main patrol craft, the MHV 800-class. The MHV 800-class is a conventional design of 83 tons, with a total of 18 units being built. Being distributed throughout the country, they uphold a local naval presence in many locations that otherwise rarely would see naval vessels. The class also includes the lengthened MHV851 Sabotøren, which is referred to as the MHV 850-subclass, and is also to be replaced. In total, 21 new patrol craft are to be acquired to provide the force with a modern platform.
Danish fleet plan
Danish Home Guard-picture of the MHV 800-class in action
Of the five larger vessels, one will be a dedicated patrol vessel for the protection of underwater infrastructure, a task that will also see significant investment in sensors and underwater drones. For the unmanned capabilities, a development programme for naval unmanned systems is to be launched with both short-term and long-term targets.
The other four vessels will be of a multi-purpose design with a focus on replacing the ageing pollution control vessels of the Royal Danish Navy. The so called ‘Shadow Fleet’ and the increased usage of older and often poorly maintained tankers has brought to the front the risks of serious environmental damage in case of a major oil spill in Danish water, and as such a modernised and increased oil and chemical spill recovery capability is a high priority. At the same time, the Minister for Resilience and Preparedness, Torsten Schack Pedersen, noted that it is “common sense” that the vessels are also able to perform other tasks of the Navy, including patrol duty, surveillance of underwater infrastructure, and minelaying, going as far as describing the new vessels as “maritime environmental and minelaying ships”.
Long term plan: New frigates
The long-term plan is looking at the replacement of the frigates of the Navy, starting with the air defence-vessels of the Iver Huitfeldt-class, which have a decade of service left in them according to Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen. The possibility of building the new vessels locally or at least with a significant Danish workshare is also being studied as a matter of security of supply. In addition, the long-term part of the plan envisions a second batch of Arctic patrol vessels, as well as looking into the possibility to cooperate with a number of other countries on a common icebreaking capacity.
“The Navy’s current fleet of frigates still has 10 good years left in it. Therefore, it is in every way timely when the government, with its proposal for a new fleet plan, now wants to create an informed basis for decisions on future acquisitions, including the next generation of Danish frigates. I look forward to discussing the entire content of the fleet plan with the parties behind the defense agreement,”
Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen.