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The navy has ordered a total of five warships from Maersk-owned Odense Steel Shipyard, and Rear Admiral Nils Wang of the Naval Command thinks at least one ship should be permanently deployed for peacekeeping duty in the Arabian Sea.
'If you hope to be within reasonable sailing time to where something serious happens, you shouldn't be positioned outside Tromsø, Norway,' Wang told daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende.
The navy currently has two of the ships, but the fifth is not expected to be delivered until 2012.
Wang believes a Danish warship on permanent global patrol would be a natural progression of the nation's active security policy. From the Arabian Sea, the ship could reach nearly all the hotspots in the eastern hemisphere within three days.
Wang said that in addition to military assignments the crew would also be able to help combat piracy and provide humanitarian assistance to Danish citizens.
'I can confirm that the foreign affairs ministry is placed under an unyielding requirement from our citizens to come and save them, regardless of how they've gotten into the situation they've found themselves in,' said Wang.
Defence Minister Søren Gade agrees that a permanently stationed ship in the Indian Ocean would be beneficial.
'Defence is an important tool for foreign policy and today the army conducts operations in places we wouldn't have dreamed of 10 years ago.'
The opposition Social Liberal party is also open to the idea of having a ship in the area.
'It's parliament that decides what operations the armed forces participate in, but I'm open to discussing it, especially if there are practical reasons for putting a ship in the Indian Ocean,' said Morten Helveg Petersen, the party's spokesman on defence issues.
'If you hope to be within reasonable sailing time to where something serious happens, you shouldn't be positioned outside Tromsø, Norway,' Wang told daily newspaper Berlingske Tidende.
The navy currently has two of the ships, but the fifth is not expected to be delivered until 2012.
Wang believes a Danish warship on permanent global patrol would be a natural progression of the nation's active security policy. From the Arabian Sea, the ship could reach nearly all the hotspots in the eastern hemisphere within three days.
Wang said that in addition to military assignments the crew would also be able to help combat piracy and provide humanitarian assistance to Danish citizens.
'I can confirm that the foreign affairs ministry is placed under an unyielding requirement from our citizens to come and save them, regardless of how they've gotten into the situation they've found themselves in,' said Wang.
Defence Minister Søren Gade agrees that a permanently stationed ship in the Indian Ocean would be beneficial.
'Defence is an important tool for foreign policy and today the army conducts operations in places we wouldn't have dreamed of 10 years ago.'
The opposition Social Liberal party is also open to the idea of having a ship in the area.
'It's parliament that decides what operations the armed forces participate in, but I'm open to discussing it, especially if there are practical reasons for putting a ship in the Indian Ocean,' said Morten Helveg Petersen, the party's spokesman on defence issues.
Well - as another current thread demonstrates, we certainly have the money for it - I can't help thinking that the entire notion is a tiny bit ridiculous. Not that I am being isolationistic or anything, but the Indian Ocean can hardly be called within the danish sphere of interests - let aone influence
But if they wish to do this, then by all means - perhaps the United States would welcome some aid patrolling those waters.
Still: ROFL
Asmodean
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