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

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

As first reported by Danish broadcasters TV2 and DR, potential improvements to the former airbase in the southwest of the island would constitute a significant upgrade to Greenland’s defense 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 January 12, 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 aging F-16s. The RDAF expects to reach Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for its first F-35 squadron later this year.

Speaking at a January 7 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 authorize 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 defense minister Troels Lund Poulsen has pledged around $1.5 billion in defense spending for Greenland; telling the Jyllands-Posten newspaper that the money would 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 ($2.21 billion) in defense 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.