Denmark could boost F-35 potential in Greenland with airport upgrade

Airport upgrades could see Greenland's Kangerlussuaq airport accommodate Danish F-35s in the future - part of a raft of defence spending initiatives for the autonomous territory.

denmark f35a

As Greenland garners significant media attention following president elect Donald Trump’s threat to acquire the Kingdom of Denmark’s autonomous territory, Denmark has suggested undertaking improvements to Greenland’s Kangerlussuaq airport to accommodate F-35 operations.

 As first reported by Danish broadcasters TV2 and DR, potential improvements to the former airbase in the southwest of the country would constitute a significant upgrade to Greenland’s defence infrastructure – with its ability to host Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters furthering its usefulness for both sovereign capabilities and NATO allies.

The proposition comes as Denmark took delivery of a further three F-35As on 12 January, bringing the in-country total to 11, with a further six Danish units used for training at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Denmark has a total of 27 F-35As on order, the first four of which arrived at Skrydstrup Air Base in October 2023, which will ultimately replace the country’s ageing F-16s. The RDAF expects to reach Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for its first F-35 squadron later this year.

Speaking at a 7 January press conference at Florida’s Mar-a-Lago resort home, Trump alluded to using American military force to seize the territory of Greenland, commenting that the US might need it – alongside the Panama Canal – “for economic security”. Although Greenland and the US are already collaborating on minerals via a 2019 agreement (made during the first Trump administration), the Danish prime minister, Mette Freidricksen, subsequently commented that “Greenland is not for sale”.

As reported by Reuters, Trump’s Republican allies in the US House of Representatives are trying to build support for a bill that would authorise the potential purchase of Greenland; presumably looking to leverage the country’s strategic location and mineral deposits.

Potentially seeking to strengthen its presence in the Arctic in the wake of Trump’s comments, Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen has pledged around $1.5bn in defence spending for Greenland; telling the Jyllands-Posten newspaper that the money wound fund the airport upgrades, two inspection ships, long-range drones, sled dog teams and more personnel for Denmark’s Arctic Command.

This builds on a 2023 agreement in which a broad majority of the Danish Parliament agreed to invest approximately DKK 16 billion (USD $2.21 billion) in defence spending – including provision for “long endurance drones for surveillance and intelligence gathering in the Arctic and North Arctic”.

Built by the US in 1941, Kangerlussuaq airport saw its first civilian services in the 1950s and was finally handed over to civilian Greenlandic control in 1992. However, following the expansion of the country’s Nuuk airport, flag carrier Air Greenland closed its previous hub in Kangerlussuaq in late November 2024. It continues to serve as a commercial facility, albeit with comparatively reduced services.

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