Danish warships, helicopters and Danish air force personnel will participate in the Norwegian-led NATO exercise "Cold Response" over the next few weeks.
A total of more than 25,000 soldiers from 14 NATO countries are participating in the exercise.
This is stated by the Danish Armed Forces in a press release.
The military exercise takes place, among other things, in the sea off northern Norway. Norway is leading the exercise.
The NATO exercise is intended to support "Arctic Sentry", which is a NATO mission that brings together military exercises in the Arctic and focuses on increasing security in the region - including around Greenland.
One of the purposes of "Cold Response" is to train NATO soldiers to operate in a climate characterized by cold and changeable weather.
In addition, the soldiers will be trained to navigate the nature of the Arctic, which differs significantly from much of the rest of the world.
In general, the exercise is intended to improve NATO's operational capabilities and strengthen the alliance's preparedness and defense against external threats in the Arctic.
Among the countries participating is the United States, which, according to the Reuters news agency, is sending approximately 4,000 soldiers to Norway.
Before the exercise began, the United States withdrew a squadron of F-35 fighter jets that were supposed to participate from the American contribution. A squadron is typically 10 to 20 aircraft.
The US defense did not want to inform Reuters whether the change is due to US military activities in the Middle East, where the country has carried out a large number of air strikes against targets in Iran since February 28.
From the Danish Air Force, personnel from the Air Control Wing and Helicopter Wing units are participating, among others.
The Air Control Wing monitors the airspace in Denmark, while the Helicopter Wing includes all the air force's helicopters and is responsible for a wide range of tasks - including search and support for the police and Danish special operations forces.
It emerged in February that NATO had decided to launch the "Arctic Sentry" mission, which the current exercise supports.
Before that, US President Donald Trump had repeatedly made it clear that he wanted full American control over Greenland.
Trump justified his desire to take over Greenland, among other things, by saying that Denmark had not done enough to protect Greenland against threats from Russia and China.
Northern Norway, which forms the setting for "Cold Response", borders Russia, which has been seen as a significant threat to NATO, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
/ritzau/
