Defense expert: The armament is a taste of the future – but no reason for fear

The increased military presence in Greenland at the moment is a signal to the Americans. But people in Greenland should not fear that the battlefield of the future will be in their backyard, experts believe.

The Danish Armed Forces are not currently carrying out military tasks in Greenland.

In peacetime, they focus primarily on sovereignty assertion and surveillance – and other tasks such as SAR operations and assistance to authorities and civilians.

However, the world is not exactly peaceful at the moment. And the ongoing rearmament of the Danish defense will very likely also mean changes in the tasks and workflows of the Defense in this country.

This is assessed by Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, associate professor at the Center for Arctic Security Studies at the Danish Defense Academy:

– You will continue to have many of the tasks you have today, but I think there will be more tasks. For example, if the US wants a larger military presence in Greenland, he points out.

The tasks of the inspection ships in Greenland

Arctic Command, as we know it today, has existed and had its headquarters in Nuuk since 2012.

From here, responsibility for, in particular, maritime surveillance and assertion of sovereignty in the seas around the Faroe Islands and Greenland is managed and distributed.

A total of four Thetis-class inspection ships patrol here year-round: Thetis, Triton, Hvidbjørnen and Vædderen.

The four ships were built in the period from 1989 to 1992.

In addition to military tasks, surveillance and assertion of sovereignty, the ships also have a number of other tasks.

Among other things, sea rescues (SAR), icebreaking, fisheries inspection, oil pollution control, providing support to the police and other authorities and sea surveying.

Arctic Command, as we know it today, has existed and had its headquarters in Nuuk since 2012.

From here, responsibility for, in particular, maritime surveillance and assertion of sovereignty in the seas around the Faroe Islands and Greenland is managed and distributed.

A total of four Thetis-class inspection ships patrol here year-round: Thetis, Triton, Hvidbjørnen and Vædderen.

The four ships were built in the period from 1989 – 1992.

In addition to military tasks, surveillance and sovereignty assertion, the ships also have a number of other tasks.

Among other things, sea rescue (SAR), icebreaking, fisheries inspection, oil pollution response, providing support to police and other authorities, and sea surveying.

– Then it may be that the Defense will be given some tasks related to supporting this military presence, says Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen.

– One could also imagine that the Danish defense will in the future participate to a greater extent in submarine hunting in the sea southeast of Greenland down towards Great Britain. What is called the Greenland, Iceland, UK gap (GIUK gap, ed.)

(GET THE GAP, red.)

Don’t be afraid

Greenland may be getting a taste of the future of defense in Greenland and the Arctic right now.

This month, the Defense Forces are at least more visible than usual – and present in large numbers in Kangerlussuaq, Nuuk, Sisimiut and other places where soldiers train and conduct exercises.

– You can expect the Danish Armed Forces to have a larger footprint in Greenland, just as the Danish Armed Forces do in the rest of the Western world, says Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen.

But even though for some of those KNR has spoken to in Nuuk, it may seem a bit unsafe with more helicopters, military aircraft and soldiers – and also a large focus on the critical world situation in the media – Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen does not believe that there is any reason to be afraid.

– From a military perspective, Greenland plays an important role. But the real tensions in the Arctic lie over near the Russian part of the Arctic over by Norway and the Bering Strait, he points out, adding:

real

– So I don’t think you should be worried if you go around Greenland.

Not even though it is obvious to imagine that there will be a larger military presence here in the near future, says Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen.

– It’s not like there’s a major imminent threat to Greenland right now.

Part of a larger strategy

What specific changes will occur in the Defence Forces and the tasks in Greenland – and how they will be felt by the population – is difficult to predict. One can only state that big things are happening in the defence sector right now.

In addition to this month’s armament, Chapter 2 of the large Defense Package will most likely land very soon. As KNR has previously written, everything indicates that it will contain major investments and new initiatives to strengthen defense and security in the Arctic – including Greenland.

According to Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, all of this is a signal to the Americans that they are present – also militarily – in Greenland and the Arctic.

– Donald Trump and Vice President Vance have both said that they have under-invested in Greenland in the defense sector. And the Danish side will have to stifle that narrative as part of a larger strategy in the battle over Greenland’s future that is currently taking place with the Americans, he says.

Will things return to normal?

But – does the armament and the world situation as it stands right now mean that people in this country have to adapt to a reality where military boots, large, gray frigates and combat helicopters make noise in the background?

Maybe not forever, is the offer from Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen.

– The idea of Greenland as a low-voltage area is under very, very intense pressure. But that pressure actually comes primarily from the Americans, says Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen.

And if the ongoing strategy to change the narrative about the defense and the Danish military presence in the Arctic succeeds, it will ease a large part of the pressure from Trump and the USA, Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen estimates.

– If the US abandons the idea of gaining political control over Greenland and starts focusing on other issues, one can easily imagine Greenland going back to the role it had until December last year. The role as the last part of the Arctic that was still a low-voltage area, he says and concludes:

– So the idea that Greenland can once again become a low-voltage area, I actually don’t think is completely dead.