Special Report: Rising tensions highlight need for greater Greenland defence

Officials at the Joint Arctic Command headquarters in Nuuk, shown here, are concerned about potential attacks on Greenland. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

While Russia and China pose no immediate threat to Greenland – and by extension NATO's northern flank – rising tensions on both sides of the Atlantic have brought a greater sense of urgency at Denmark's Joint Arctic Command (JAC) to prepare for future conflicts and adversarial operations, according to Danish Major General Søren Andersen, JAC commander.

“There is no immediate military threat to Greenland,” Maj Gen Andersen told Janes on 11 November at JAC headquarters in Nuuk, Greenland.

The 1951 Defense of Greenland Agreement signed by Denmark and the US ensures the latter's military presence in Greenland. The agreement was modified in 2004 with the Igaliku Declaration. US presence is also covered by the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

While Maj Gen Andersen said he is not concerned about a Russian invasion of Greenland, the area's main military airport in Kangerlussuaq and the US' Pituffik Space Base with its radar systems could be affected by action to hamper use of Greenland as a logistics hub. He added that Western operations like Russian submarine monitoring could be affected.

Nearly a quarter the size of the contiguous United States, Greenland sits at the confluence of the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans – or at the main intersection for North Atlantic sea lines of communication (SLOCs).

Admiral Daryl Caudle, who became US chief of naval operations in August, told Janes