US approves sale of surveillance aircraft to Denmark

While President Trump mocks the defense of Greenland and has brought the relationship between the two NATO countries to a standstill, the people in the State Department (the US Department of Foreign Affairs) have on December 29th given the nod of approval for the Kingdom to purchase three P8-Poseidon surveillance aircraft from the American Boeing factories, according to a wide range of military media, including the prestigious American military magazine Jane's.

The deal between Boeing and the Kingdom of Denmark has an estimated value of $1.8 billion – approximately 11.5 billion kroner – and includes, in addition to the aircraft themselves, training, support and advanced sensor systems.

No contract has yet been signed between the parties, but the P8-Poseidon has long been high on the Danish Ministry of Defence's wish list. The aircraft therefore became part of Partial Agreement 2 on the Arctic and the North Atlantic, which the Government of Greenland, the Faroese Government and the parties to the Defence Agreement signed in October.

Standard procedure

The US State Department's approval of a potential trade is normal procedure in connection with the export of weapons systems. Back in May, the Swedish government gave permission for Denmark to potentially purchase Swedish Global Eye surveillance aircraft as an alternative to the P8-Poseidon.

The plan is for P8-Poseidon to particularly strengthen surveillance of the North Atlantic in the so-called GIUK gap between Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the United Kingdom. P8-Poseidon is currently used by a large number of NATO countries, in addition to the United States, including Norway, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The new surveillance aircraft will primarily replace the defense's four Challenger aircraft, which were acquired in 1998 and are getting worn out, but the P8-Poseidon is only part of the solution, so at some point other aircraft types may come into play. The Challenger aircraft are also used by the defense for other tasks in Northeast Greenland, where the small jets can land on diminutive dirt runways, just as the Challenger is also used for VIP flights with the royal family and the government.

Well-known aircraft type

The P8-Poseidon first flew in 2009. The aircraft is based on Boeing's 737 model, of which more than 4,600 have been sold since its launch in 1966. The aircraft type is well-known to many in Greenland, where Air Greenland in collaboration with Jettime uses the aircraft on the Narsarsuaq and Billund routes, among others – and it has also been a Boeing 737 from the Danish company Airseven that has operated the summer route between Nuuk and Aalborg.

Unlike the current Danish Challenger aircraft, the P8-Poseidon can also carry weapons, such as mines, torpedoes and Harpoon missiles.

The P8-Poseidon has a cruising speed of 815 km/h and a range of 4,500 km. In connection with rescue operations and submarine hunting, the aircraft can stay over a position for approximately four hours, depending on the distance to the nearest airfield.

Poseidon was, in Greek mythology, the god of the sea, who creates waves by striking with his trident.