BELFAST — The Danish Ministry of Defence said today it will not be moving ahead with an acquisition of the Israeli-made Barak MX Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) system after accepting a Defence Command recommendation to instead explore “other initiatives with greater immediate combat power.”
Denmark’s Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen said in a translated statement that the Defence Command had put forward a “clear military-technical position regarding the development of ground-based air defense.”
He added, “[W]e in the Conciliation Circle have agreed to follow the Defence Command’s recommendations, so that we purchase the most appropriate capabilities and ensure a rapid and capable development.”
The Command specifically recommended that “resources for the possible implementation of Barak MX should be used on other initiatives with greater immediate combat power, including the fastest possible preparation of the ground-based air defence.”
The decision to forego a Barak order comes after a report earlier this month from DR, Denmark’s public broadcaster, said that Israel’s offer for the air defense system included a “soft kill solution against drones” — a capability existing Danish systems do not have.
It remains unclear which alternative system to Barak MX, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Copenhagen plans on acquiring. The Danish Ministry of Defense has not responded to a request for comment as of press time, nor did the Israeli Ministry of Defense or IAI.
According to the Israeli MoD, Barak is capable of incorporating a number of different interceptors out to a range of 150km (93.2 miles) and can counter threats like drones, fighter jets, helicopters, cruise missiles, surface-to-air and tactical ballistic missiles.
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In December 2024, Slovakia placed an order for the air defense weapon system with Israel, valued at €560 million ($583 million).
Denmark’s need for a system with short-range, counter-drone capabilities has become more pressing in the aftermath of a wave of drone sightings over several local airports and an uptick in Russian drone incursions across Europe.
In the case of a drone incident from September that forced the closure of Copenhagen airport, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that she “could not rule out” Russian involvement.
Besides the focus on urgently building up counter drone capabilities, Copenhagen is in the early stages of a major air defense modernization effort after committing in September to spend approximately 58 billion krone ($9.1 billion) on eight long- and medium-range systems, including the French-Italian SAMP/T platform.