As a part of the elevated Danish navy presence in Greenland, RDAF F-16s deployed to Kangerlussuaq on the island’s west coast and visited Pituffik House base.
Two Royal Danish Air Power (RDAF) F-16AMs made a brief two-hour go to to Greenland’s Pituffik House Base on Jun. 25, 2025, to satisfy the U.S. House Power’s personnel there and get to know their work there. The F-16s, which had been accompanied by a CL-604 Challenger, are at present in Greenland as a part of Denmark’s “everlasting sovereignty enforcement” and the Danish Armed Forces’ elevated presence within the space, defined the Forsvaret (Danish Defence Command).
Within the roughly 1,200 km journey from Kangerlussuaq to Pituffik House Base, the 2 jets had been supported by a French Air and House Power (FASF) A330 MRTT (Multirole Tanker Transport) tanker, in addition to the CL-604 Challenger plane of the Air Transport Wing. The French tanker, which additionally supported the F-16s on their journey from Denmark to Greenland, is at present deployed there to help the F-16s all through the deployment.
The F-16s are assigned to the Skrydstrup Air Power Base, within the south of Jutland, the place the older Combating Falcons are being changed by F-35As for NATO’s QRA (Fast Response Alert) duties. Forsvaret didn’t point out what number of F-16s had been deployed to Greenland. Additionally, it’s value noting that the most recent deployment of Danish F-16s to Greenland was in 2014.
The Challenger plane is a militarized model of the Bombardier Challenger 600 collection of enterprise jets, that the RDAF typically makes use of for maritime patrol and journeys to the Arctic, the place it’s appropriate for the incessantly tough gravel-covered strips.
Danske F-16 er lige nu i Grønland, hvor de er en del af Forsvarets faste suverænitetshåndhævelse i Kongeriget og Forsvarets øgede tilstedeværelse i Grønland.F-16 piloterne tog turen fra Danmark til Grønland med støtte fra et fransk MRTT lufttankningsfly fra Armée de l’Air et de… pic.twitter.com/N9TD1u0cq1
— Forsvaret (@forsvaretdk) June 25, 2025
Pituffik is the U.S. Division of Protection’s northernmost set up within the Arctic, supporting space-based missions, missile warning programs, and satellite tv for pc monitoring. Positioned roughly 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle, it was initially referred to as Thule Air Base earlier than Denmark renamed it in 2023, honoring Greenlandic heritage.
Marking sovereignty and presence
Sharing pictures on X capturing the 2 F-16s from contained in the Challenger plane and a cockpit picture of one of many pilots, the Forsvaret stated: “Danish F-16s are at present in Greenland, the place they’re a part of the Danish Armed Forces’ everlasting sovereignty enforcement within the Kingdom and the Danish Armed Forces’ elevated presence in Greenland.”
In one other assertion, Forsvaret additionally famous “gaining expertise with fighter plane operations within the Arctic” as one other motivation behind the deployment. It’s value noting that the deployment comes amid the U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambitions of annexing Greenland, a Danish semi-autonomous area.
The Danish F-16s are at present deployed to Kangerlussuaq, a small airport within the southwest of Greenland. The assertion defined that the French tanker supported the ferry flight from Denmark to Kangerlussuaq and it “operates along with the Danish fighter plane through the continued deployment.”
The French Joint Employees stated in its personal publish on X that, with the A330 MRTT offering in-flight refueling for the Danish F-16s, is “reaffirming its steadfast dedication to collective safety within the area.” The picture launched confirmed the 2 F-16s flying in formation with the A330 through the flight to Pituffik.
🇫🇷France continues its reassurance measures in the direction of 🇩🇰Denmark, with the information a couple of MRTT tanker refueling Danish F-16s over Greenland printed the day after NATO’s annual summit.
This follows an A400M deployment and the go to of the French president in 🇬🇱 earlier this yr. pic.twitter.com/Djj3EL1xIO
— Etienne Marcuz (@Etienne_Marcuz) June 26, 2025
The FASF additionally practiced working its A400M from the Arctic’s icy runways in Canada and Greenland in January and March 2025, respectively. Copenhagen had helped it with the second location, marking enhancing diplomatic and navy ties inside Europe and NATO.
Talking concerning the go to to Pituffick, Forsvaret defined “the flight additionally gave the Danish commander of the fighter plane, Niels Andersen, the chance to greet the bottom’s administration.” Andersen “obtained a radical briefing concerning the base and the way they perform their duties below the typically harsh circumstances that the Arctic surroundings and placement supply.”
Kangerlussuaq and Pituffik/Thule air bases
Greenland has seen navy plane deployment previously, with the most recent one being in Jan. 2025, when the North American Aerospace Protection Command (NORAD) despatched two F-16s from Alaska to the island throughout an Arctic Readiness train. The U.S. assertion stated the deployment was to ascertain “ahead posture NORAD presence within the Arctic” in response to having “monitored a number of Russian navy plane exercise” main as much as that week.
Danish F-16 fighter jets flew over Nuuk, Greenland 🇬🇱 yesterday.
🎥: Forsvaret pic.twitter.com/L4XJW5HhSt
— Orla Joelsen (@OJoelsen) June 25, 2025
Whereas the assertion didn’t specify it, the 2 F-16s had been deployed to Thule/Pituffik Air Base, which often hosts NORAD property. That deployment additionally got here amid open rhetoric from Trump over annexing Greenland, together with his Secretary of State Marco Rubio seconding that the plans had been “not a joke,” based on Reuters.
🇦🇷-🇩🇰 | Cazas F-16AM MLU matrículas E-018 y E-605 de la Flyvevåbnet 🇩🇰 desplegados en Groenlandia.
Estos dos F-16 posiblemente forman parte de los 24 F-16 adquiridos por la @FuerzaAerea_Arg . pic.twitter.com/6216DNlfMf
— AlfKazan24 (@AlfKazan24) June 26, 2025
Denmark reinforces Greenland
Denmark had been progressively growing its navy presence on Greenland. On Jun. 9, 2025, two Danish EH-101 helicopters made the two,000 nautical miles, 17 hour journey from Air Base Karup, in Denmark, to Nuuk, previous the “elevated presence in Greenland over the approaching interval.” The frigate Niels Juel additionally sailed from Korsør in a seven-day voyage as part of this deployment.
After overlaying greater than 2,000 nautical miles, two Danish helicopters have efficiently arrived in Nuuk, Greenland.
The journey from Air Base Karup (DK) to Nuuk in Greenland 🇬🇱 with the 2 EH‑101 helicopters took over 17 hours and is a part of the Danish Armed Forces’ elevated… pic.twitter.com/ZQghl82VTi
— Orla Joelsen (@OJoelsen) June 9, 2025
Denmark’s earlier plans to beef up its restricted navy presence in Greenland embody upgrading Kangerlussuaq to help F-35 fighters, based on native broadcasters DR and TV2. The Danish Materials and Procurement Company additionally introduced on Jan. 14, 2025, the acquisition of “F-35 deployment kits” from Germany. The kits are containerized modules for pilots and technicians, to be probably used at Kangerlussuaq till the renovation there wraps up.
