Lockheed Martin’s TPY-4 radar, shown here, has been acquired to improve security coverage for Greenland and the region. (Lockheed Martin)
Danish radars and unmanned systems slated for Greenland and the Faroe Islands will close coverage gaps in the sensing capability of the US Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland, according to Marisol Maddox, senior associate for the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
“The Greenland ice sheet is a mile high [in places],” Maddox said on 14 January during a CSIS online discussion about Greenland.
“In some places the Pituffik radar cuts out because of that ice sheet,” Maddox noted. “The Danish have invested in radar arrays on the Faroe Islands [to help address those gaps]. Some of the Danish investments include long-range radars on the [Greenlandic] east coast.”
Three Lockheed Martin air surveillance radars will be installed across Denmark in Skagen, Bornholm, and the Faroe Islands, according to a 11 December press release from the Danish Ministry of Defence (Forsvarsministeriet: MoD).
The contract for the three radars also provides an opportunity to install a fourth radar in Greenland, according to the MoD release.
While the Danish MoD did not name the radar model, a Lockheed Martin press release on 16 December confirmed that the Danish Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) had selected the company’s TPY-4 radar for long-range air-defence capabilities. The delivery of the radars is intended to strengthen the Royal Danish Air Force and to “support NATO’s collective security”, according to Lockheed Martin.
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