Naval operations in the Red Sea to protect commercial maritime traffic against attacks launched from Yemen by Houthi rebels [liés à l’Iran] are a reflection of the state of some European navies, as shown by the misfortunes of the Danish frigate Iver Huitfeldt last March.
Engaged in the “Guardian of Prosperity” operation, under American command, the latter was unable to use its RIM-162 ESSM surface-to-air missiles during a Houthi attack due to a computer problem that caused a malfunction between its APAR radar [Active Phased Array Radar] and its C-FLEX combat management system. In addition, it also turned out that the anti-aircraft shells fired by its 76 mm guns were partly defective. As a result, its mission was cut short…
But the matter did not end there: General Flemming Lentfer was abruptly dismissed from his position as Chief of Staff of the Danish Armed Forces for not having informed the government of the problems – which were apparently not new – linked to the weapons system of the three frigates belonging to the Iver Huitfeldt class. The person concerned has announced that he will contest this decision in court, which will undoubtedly give rise to new revelations…
In the meantime, the setbacks of the Royal Danish Navy are not over yet. From July 11 and until November 5, it was to provide the “flagship” of the 1st Standing Maritime Group of NATO [SNMG1]tasked with patrolling the waters of the North Atlantic.
The frigates Iver Huitfeldt and Niels Juel were called upon to take turns to carry out this function. However, the plans had to be changed at the last minute, the problems linked to the air defense systems having still not been resolved since the incidents which occurred in the Red Sea.
“We had to modify the Danish contribution to the standing NATO naval force in the second half of 2024. The problems encountered by the crew of the Iver Huitfeldt during the mission in the Red Sea have still not been resolved », announced Troels Lund Poulsen, the Danish Minister of Defense, via a press release released on June 27.
However, the frigate Iver Huitfeldt will still fulfill its role as “flagship” of the SNMG1… but by remaining at dock. The same will go for Niels Juel if, by then, no solution is found.
“We propose to take over the command of the NATO naval force from the Danish naval bases. This is a necessary decision. Once the problem is resolved, the ships will be ready to go to sea again,” Troels Lund Poulsen said.
Concretely, these two frigates will remain in port, with, on board, “everything necessary” to support an operation [état-major, équipage, systèmes de communications, etc.]. Until “issues relating to equipment and armament” have been “finally settled”, they will not be considered “combat units”.
For his part, the acting chief of staff of the Danish forces, General Michael Hyldgaard, justified this decision by explaining that there could be no question of deploying frigates not in possession of all their capabilities in a context marked by worsening threats. “The units we send must be ready to carry out their missions. We owe it to our staff, our partners and the Danish people,” he concluded.
