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MILITARY

Denmark to send decommissioned tanks to Ukraine

Denmark is to send Leopard 1A5 tanks which it had taken out of service to Ukraine, as part of donations to be made by several countries.

Denmark to send decommissioned tanks to Ukraine
I en uge har Jyske Dragonregiments panserbataljon været vært for den internationale kampvognskonkurrence Nordic Tank Challenge 2017 med Leopard 2A5 kampvogne. Formålet er at finde den bedste kampvognsbesætning og i år har 5 nationer, Danmark, Sverige, Norge, Canada, Tyskland og USA deltaget i øvelsen i Oksbøl. Med til finalen torsdag d. 18. maj var en dansk og to norske besætninger. Finalen blev overværet af HKH Prins Joachim. Her kører en af kampvognene i stilling. (Foto: Henning Bagger/Scanpix 2017)

Tanks previously used by the Danish military are to be prepared and sent to Ukraine, broadcaster DR reported on Tuesday.

No specific number for the total number of tanks has been confirmed and the participating countries not specified.

But a three-figure number of older models could be donated once contributions from all countries are added up, according to the report.

A newer version of the tank, the Leopard 2 model, is currently used by the Danish military.

Denmark’s old Leopard 1A5 tanks were sold in 2010 to company FFG in northern German town Flensburg, where they are still located, DR reports.

The tanks are expected to be sent to Ukraine in the coming months.

Media in Denmark including broadcaster TV2 last week reported that 99 Danish Leopard tanks could be sent to Ukraine.

The Danish tanks were originally used during the war in the Balkans in 1994.

A director with the German company told TV2 that there had been contact with the Danish government over the tanks.

“I wouldn’t call it negotiations but we have spoken about the tanks and what we can do,” the sales director, Thorsten Peter, said.

The tanks are not currently ready for active duty and must undergo work before being used, according to Peter.

Member comments

  1. Another shameful Western (and smart) self-fulfiulling move. But militarily an absolute crock.
    1- It reduces the massive storage costs.
    2- It removes the burden of havgin to destroy them according to Danish and EU .Environmental law.
    3- It artificially offsets and adds to Denmark’s “Ukraine support budget”
    4- Politically it’s a win. It buys time and saves money. The headlines just will read Denmark is supporting Ukraine with military hardware. No one will remember the second paragraph of how much of a burden and sham these tanks are.

    happy anniversary, Russia!

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MILITARY

US troops to mount exercise on Danish Baltic island

US troops are planning to take part in a military exercise on the island of Bornholm next month, marking the third time in three years US soldiers have trained on Danish soil.

US troops to mount exercise on Danish Baltic island

Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, revealed the planned exercise, which will take plance between May 1st and May 7th in a briefing to the Danish parliament’s defence committee.

As part of the exercise, US troops will ship an unnamed weapons system to Bornholm Airport, and then set it up in a military exercise area, but would not then fire any shots or missiles. 

“The exercise has a military training aspect, but also sends a signal about the solidarity of the alliance, about American commitment to security in Europe and in our own immediate area,” Lund Poulsen said in the briefing.

US troops took part in similar exercises in 2022 and 2023 on the strategically placed island, which lies 360km away from the Russian and controls access to the western Baltic. 

The US had requested permission to train on Bornholm, which the Danish government then accepted. There is no change in Danish armed forces’ assessment of the threat against Bornholm or Denmark, Lund Poulsen stressed. 

In December, Denmark entered into an agreement with the US, which permits US soldiers and equipment to be kept permanently on Danish soil, with hte US granted access to the Karup, Skrydstrup and Aalborg air bases.

When US troops held a similar exercise on the island in 2022, with a large missile system deployed to the island, the Russian ambassador to Denmark sent an official warning. 

“This can be seen as taking a step towards changing Bornholm from an island of peace to a potential military bridgehead,” Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, told the Danish broadcaster TV2.

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