How Yemen's Red Sea operations axed Danish defense chief

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
4 Apr 2024 14:16

The Danish defense chief receives the sack after critical issues on Demark's frigate in the Red Sea went unreported to higher-ups.

The Danish warship Esbern Snare is seen from above in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on January 4, 2014. (AP)

Denmark has sacked its defense chief Flemming Lentfer after major faults were discovered in air defense systems on a frigate that it sent to the Red Sea earlier.

Lentfer was axed on Wednesday night after failing to report to the Danish Defense Minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, that the Iver Huitfeldt vessel had experienced a 30 minutes-long malfunction in one of its missile and radar systems, during a drone attack, allegedly launched by the Yemeni Armed Forces in the Red Sea.

The malfunction led Danish authorities to recall the frigate from its mission, marking the gravity of the faults.

"I have lost trust in the chief of defense," said Poulsen. Shockingly, he found out about the incident from a specialist military outlet, rather than any of his subordinates.

"We are facing a historic and necessary strengthening of Denmark’s defense forces. This places great demands on our organization and on the military advice at a political level," he asserted.

Olfi breaks the news of flailing fleet to Defense Minister

Danish news website Olfi was the one to break the news to the Minister of Defense, explaining that the frigate was commanded by Commander Sune Lund, who complained about a problem with the ship's active radar and C-Flex combat management system.

Unexplained outrages to the systems were severe enough to prevent the frigate from launching its RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles. The Danish frigate's 76 mm guns were also reported to be defective on several occasions during deployment to the Red Sea.

Other reports revealed other aspects of the commander's message, in which he stated that the equipment problems reportedly had been known about for "years", but that little had been done to address them.

Questions over the readiness of Western armed forces to engage in wider-scale conflict, such as confrontation with Russia, have been raised following a series of mishaps faced by Western missile systems in the Red Sea. The latest of which was an incident in which the German Hessen frigate fired two air-defense missiles at an allied American MQ-9 drone in the Red Sea, however, both missiles failed to reach their target.

Heightened tensions that the West's political command has pushed for, especially in Europe, have had effects on entire defense sectors.

"I am deeply shaken. There is something similar to an open war between the ministry and the defense command," said Carsten Bach, defense spokesperson for the opposition Liberal Alliance party.