The weapons purchase list is long - but the cash box is almost empty

Weapons procurement list is long - but the defense budget is running out

Politics (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik)

***************************************************************

Våbenindkøbslisten er lang - men pengekassen er ved at være tom

***************************************************************

Several parties are seeking answers on how the government will finance the upcoming investments in the defense sector.

Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (V) has previously hinted at the purchase of more fighter jets. The government has announced that it will acquire attack weapons. And there are ongoing discussions about new frigates. Collage: Søren Winter Nørbæk, DR. Photo: Forsvarsgalleriet.

By Tobias Leth Klinge ([email protected]) 39 min. ago

When Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (V) looks at what has appeared to be a bottomless defense budget, it is now almost empty.

In the horizon loom large investments for the Danish defense, which extend far beyond the amount of money that remains.

According to DR's information (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/natos-benhaarde-krav-til-danmark-flyvevaabnet-mangler-et-stort-antal-kampfly), the new NATO strength requirements impose demands on Denmark to acquire up to 16 F-35 fighter jets more.

In comparison, the 27 planes that Denmark has already purchased cost approximately 20 billion kroner.

Troels Lund Poulsen has previously stated (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/troels-lund-poulsen-vil-koebe-flere-f-35-kampfly-fra-usa), that he wishes to purchase more fighter jets, and he does not hide the fact that new money must be found if it is to be possible.

- We are beginning to have spent almost all the money we have set aside. How we will finance the acquisition of additional fighter jets, I will report when the decision is made.

- But it is also of crucial importance to me to say that if we are to have more fighter jets, it must be done quickly, says the minister to DR.

Here he sets it out:

----------------------------------------

Multiple billion-dollar investments on the way

----------------------------------------

In total, there are approximately 315 billion kroner set aside in the period 2024-2033, where the defense agreement applies, according to the Ministry of Defense (https://www.fmn.dk/da/arbejdsomraader/forlig-og-okonomi/okonomi-og-styring/). This is divided in the agreement, an acceleration fund and in a reserve "for future, permanent additional expenditures".

Exactly how much money remains, has not been possible for DR to obtain an answer.

But in an agreement on establishing physical frameworks for the construction of larger military ships in Denmark from June it emerges that there is around 17 billion kroner left in the agreement period (https://www.fmn.dk/globalassets/fmn/dokumenter/-aftaletekst---endelig-.pdf).

Since then, the government has added an extra 10 billion kroner to the budget law to strengthen the Defense in 2026, and 1.5 billion kroner (https://www.fmn.dk/da/nyheder/2025/forsvarets-kampkraft-styrkes-med-en-fardigopbyg-ning-af-raketkasterkapaciteten/) has been used on "the completion" of the Puls-rocket launchers, which Denmark has purchased from the Israeli Elbit.

And most recently, a new Danish record has been set in the largest weapons purchase, namely air defense to the tune of 58 billion kroner (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/58-milliarder-regeringen-laver-danmarkshistoriens-stoerste-vaabenindkoeb). Here, 25 billion kroner has already been set aside for the purchase.

It can be summarized in Troels Lund Poulsen's words: "We are beginning to have spent almost all the money we have set aside."

Fighter jets are not the only thing on the procurement list for the Danish Defense.

The government announced yesterday (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/regeringen-vil-afskraekke-rusland-med-langtraekkende-praecisionsvaaben) that it will acquire attack weapons, more specifically long-range precision weapons.

Troels Lund Poulsen has said this week that Denmark will invest a ten-digit million amount (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/seneste/regeringen-vil-koebe-overvaagningsfly-til-groenland-milliarder) in surveillance planes.

There are several investments in security in the Arctic on the way. And there are ongoing discussions about the acquisition of new frigates. An investment that can also quickly run up to a large ten-digit million amount.

In addition, there is also a need for a quick acquisition of more ammunition, just to name a few examples.

It can be done to acquire more F-35 fighter jets, earlier than Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen previously believed, he says. (Photo: © Bo Amstrup, Ritzau Scanpix)

---------------------

'Directly irresponsible'

---------------------

All the upcoming large investments also prompt several parties to seek financing from the government's side.

- It is directly irresponsible that the government has not yet told the Danes how the increasing defense expenditures will be financed, sounds it from the Liberal Alliance's defense spokesman, Carsten Bach, who continues:

- The government can clearly not agree among themselves on how we find the money. The Danes' security is at stake, so the government owes the Danes a clear answer.

Radical Left's political leader, Martin Lidegaard, raises a question.

- When will there be an economic plan? We are ready to take responsibility here, but we can only do so when the government plays something out, he says.

He also misses a more focused and strategic prioritization of the remaining funds on the short term.

- It is as if the government is using all its waking hours to prepare for a war that, despite everything, lies several years in the future, and according to FE is unlikely to take place when the EU mobilizes so much.

- On the other hand, there is far too little attention to the cyberwar we are currently in, where there are daily attacks on Danish companies and our power and water supply. That sails, and here we have a real need to invest, he says.

Therefore, he hopes that the government will soon present a strategy and an investment plan for the digital readiness.

Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen has not wished to comment on the criticism from the two parties.

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=undefined)

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.