On 10 June a large majority of the Danish political parties accepted a new defence agreement covering the period 2005-2009. With 90 % of the Parliament
“Folketinget” behind the agreement, we have secured political stability for the development of the Danish Armed Forces.
The new defence agreement will imply a comprehensive transformation of the Danish Armed Forces. Let me present the main points of the defence agreement as I see them:
• Denmark will double its capacity to continuously deploy forces for international operations. We currently have more than 1000 soldiers in
international operations. In the future our ambition is to be able to sustain 2000 soldiers in international operations continuously.
• The budget will be the same in fixed terms. This means that it will be adjusted for inflation.
• We have earmarked the necessary funding for the deployment of the forces.
• The agreement includes more money for investment in major equipment.
• The agreement is fully in line with NATO initiatives like PCC, that is the Prague Capabilities Commitment.
• As a consequence of the changed security environment Denmark abandons the mobilisation force structure and transforms the Armed Forces in order to meet the new challenges.
• Total defence is being strengthened.
• A modernised conscription system.
Denmark is now fully taking into account the new security situation. There is at present no direct conventional threat against Danish territory. And it is not likely that one will emerge in the near future. And Europe has been reunited. But new and unpredictable, asymmetric threats, primarily in the form of international terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery have emerged.
International operations capability
Let me elaborate on some of the main points of the defence agreement. First, realising that the defence of Denmark’s security and interests is likely to take place far from our territory, the new defence agreement will double the capacity for participation in International Operations. This means that on average, our contri- bution to International Operations will be increased. From a thousand soldiers today up to two thousands soldiers when the new structure is implemented.
This level of ambition equals a nation with a population of 50 million to be able to continuously deploy – on an average – about 20.000 troops for international operations.
The Armed Forces must be able to participate in all types of missions, ranging from high intensity war fighting to peace keeping missions. We want our capabilities to be self-sustained to the greatest extent possible. A Danish contribution for international operations should in this way include combat units, support units and logistics. With regard to the means to deploy them, some of the strategic transport means will be provided through international cooperation as in the Prague Capabilities Commitment, others by national means like our ARK-project where we
have fulltime chartered two large roll-on-roll-off ships. Funding for these strategic transportation projects is part of the new defence agreement.
With regard to the three services, let me highlight the following: The Army’s toolbox of capabilities ready for international operations will be substantially increased. And there will be an increased ability to tailor self-sustained Army contri- butions to a specific mission.
The evolution of the Navy will continue to build on our natural specialization in littoral operations. The capacity to participate in littoral operations far from Den- mark will be greatly enhanced with new patrol ships and new flexible support ships.
This will also enhance the capacity for blue water operations. In other words opera- tions on the oceans.
The capacity of the Air Force for participation in international operations will be increased. It is focused on deployment of aircraft either by Denmark alone or in cooperation with other nations. The ability to operate Danish aircraft contributions or aircraft contributions from other nations will be enhanced with support units and logistics.
Funding
As I mentioned the budget will not be changed. The transformation will thus primarily be carried out through reorganisation and downsizing of the staff and support structure, leading to an increase in operational capabilities.
In order to free funds for the operational structure, certain support structures will be centralised. This includes management of personnel, materiel & equipment and real estate.
The restructuring will lead to a significant shift in favour of the operational structure. With the new defence agreement we emphasize the importance of the Armed Forces delivering essential military products.
I will admit that transformation also entails difficult decisions. We have chosen to give up the submarine capability, the ground based air defence system (DE- HAWK) in the Air Force and the Multiple Launch Rocket System in the Army. But it has been necessary in order to provide funding for modern equipment and adequate training for the units which we have chosen to keep.
In line with NATO needs and more investments
During the development of the new defence agreement we have had a close dialogue with NATO about NATO needs and priorities. This has been instrumental in getting the priorities right in the defence agreement. The Alliance is dependent on
nations providing usable forces. And this is exactly what the defence agreement will do.
The agreement includes increased funding for major procurements. Over the five year period, 14.2 billion Danish Kroner will be allocated for procurement of major equipment. The amount also includes increased funding for PCC initiatives such as strategic airlift and air-to-air refuelling. And you may notice that we also reserve funding for investments in Air to Ground Surveillance.
Total defence
Let me offer some remarks on what we call Total Defence. Should disaster strike Denmark – whether it is caused by terrorism or by natural disaster – the society’s ability to cope with such a disaster is what we call total defence. Another more popular term might be “Homeland Security”. The defence agreement implies an enhanced contribution from the Armed Forces to Total Defence.
We have our professional branches – police, community or state emergency agencies and, if needed, the professional part of the Armed Forces – as our “first in”
capacity. As a supplement to this we have our volunteer forces within the Civil Emergency Agency and the Home Guard which can reinforce the professional forces within hours.
But the combined professional and volunteer force will only have the needed manpower for a shorter period of operations. Securing airports, bridges, power plants, government buildings and other vital infrastructure for a longer period requires larger numbers of personnel. Therefore a Total Defence Force with personnel strength of 12,000 will be introduced.
Conscription
The conscripts in the Total Defence Force will receive four months of training. Ap- proximately 6,500 conscripts will be called up each year (today we call up 9,000). Let me address a common misunderstanding:
We do not intend to train traditional soldiers in only four months.
We will train conscripts for four months for national total defence or “homeland security” tasks. Training soldiers for our internationally deployable forces requires at least 9 month additional training.
Our experience with recruitment from our conscripts today shows that this ambition of recruiting 20% of the 6,500 conscripts is realistic. It is also our experience that recruitment of conscripts offers a broader and better recruitment
base for the professional armed forces. All segments of society will be represented:
The rich, the poor – the smart, and the not quite so smart guys.