There are plenty of requests for the extra DKK 300 billion that Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (V) expects to spend on the Defense over a number of years.
This is according to Associate Professor Peter Viggo Jakobsen from the Department of Strategy and War Studies at the Norwegian Defense Academy.
According to the defense lecturer, the largest single item on the wish list is an air defense of Denmark.
– The big item is air defense. We need to spend a lot more money than has been planned so far if we are to have a comprehensive air defence, he says.
Among other things, the air force must be used to protect air stations and ports where allied soldiers are received.
The system must be able to eliminate threats from above, whether they come from planes, helicopters or incoming missiles.
Money has been set aside for parts of the air force in the nearly DKK 200 billion that the politicians have already set aside until 2033.
But it is far from enough, assesses Peter Viggo Jakobsen.
According to the associate professor, the defense alliance is on its way with new strength targets for the member states. It is the goals that determine what the individual members must contribute.
The targets are secret. But Peter Viggo Jakobsen has no doubt that the announcement from the Minister of Defense should be seen in anticipation of greater demands on what Denmark must be able to provide.
– As the strength targets from Nato become larger, more demands will be made that we must provide greater capacities and that we must be able to move out faster.
– This means greater requirements for how many weapons, ammunition and missiles you must have in stock. When you add all that together, the price just becomes completely different, he says.
Even though DKK 300 billion sounds like a lot, the money can quickly be used, Peter Viggo Jakobsen estimates.
– We could spend all the money on surveillance in Greenland. Try listening here: It’s a bottomless pit.
– This is also why you have to think about and, for example, build air defense together with neighboring countries, so that you cover each other up and avoid buying too much, he says.
The Minister of Defense has not announced anything about how many years the money will cover, or where the funding will come from.
/ritzau/
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
