Denmark fires defense chief amid worsening naval woes

The Denmark government terminated the chief of defense for failing to disclose multiple malfunctions on the frigate Iver Huitfeldt during its deployment to the Red Sea.

In a press briefing on April 3, Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced the need for a new chief of defense, citing the challenges they currently face. The challenges arise from allegations by the Danish news website Olfi, which exposed critical issues with the frigate’s weapon and mission systems that went unreported or addressed for a significant period.

In light of this, Maj. Gen. Michael Wiggers Hyldgaard, who currently leads the country’s special operations command, will temporarily assume the role following the dismissal of Flemming Lentfer. Lund Poulsen admitted that he was unaware of the ship’s defects until the publication of these reports.

The frigate had initially planned to deploy to the Red Sea as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian until mid-April. However, on March 26, Denmark’s Defense Ministry announced that the ship was already on its way back home.

Reports indicate that Thales Nederland manufactures the ship’s active phased array radar, cited as one of the issues.

Danish broadcaster DR reports that the Denmark Ministry of Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization (FMI) has informed defense company Thales about its preliminary investigation into the incident during a combat situation in the Red Sea. Thales stated that the investigation does not indicate any problem related to the APAR radar.

In addition to this, Danish defense leaders are facing another problem following an incident on April 4 aboard the frigate Niels Juel, which is a sister ship of the Iver Huitfeldt.

Currently, Denmark has three Iver Huitfeldt-class and two Absalon-class frigates in service. Every five years, each frigate must undergo docking. The ministry took the step of temporarily closing the area around the Korsør naval base, where the Niels Juel was docked, to air and marine traffic. This action followed the ship’s failure to deactivate the booster of a Harpoon missile during a mandatory test.

Despite concerns, the missile retained its warhead intact, potentially targeting an area approximately 1,000 meters above sea level in the south from the frigate’s position.The incident is currently under investigation by authorities as of Thursday afternoon.