Defense acquits itself in frigate fad, confidential report reveals
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On Wednesday, the frigate 'Ivar Huitfeldt' arrived in Frederikshavn. Photo: TV 2 North
The Ministry of Defense informed the Ministry of Defense about faults on the frigate just two days after critical feedback, according to a confidential statement.
The Ministry of Defense was informed of problems with the defense systems of the frigate Iver Huitfeldt, long before it emerged on Tuesday that
the ship had suffered a technical breakdown in connection with a firefight in the Red Sea on 9 March.
This is what it says in a five-page statement sent from the Defense Command to the Ministry of Defence, of which TV 2 has gained access to key parts.
The ship was reported ready for battle
Statement from the Defense Command to the Ministry of Defence
The statement comes at the request of Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (V) and also shows that, according to the Defense Command, the frigate was reported ready for combat before it left Denmark.
In the same way, according to the statement, the Defense considered the frigate to be fully equipped for the events in March, when the ship was attacked by four drones.
- When the frigate Iver Huitfeldt departed from Korsør in January, the missile and artillery system as well as war ammunition were reported operational. FMI (the Ministry of Defence's Material and Procurement Agency, ed.) has tested all systems on the frigate prior to the operational readiness, and personnel have also been on board in the days leading up to departure, where no problems with any systems have been identified, it says.
The statement thus comes to the following:
- The preliminary conclusion is that Iver Huitfeldt had passed the necessary training, the ship was reported ready for battle. Before the engagement on 9 March, neither the ship's commander, the Naval Command, the Defense Command, nor others had any indication of the challenges that were recognized there.
Harsh criticism from the minister
The need for the explanation comes after the defense media Olfi
was able to uncover on Tuesday how the defense systems on the frigate Iver Huitfeldt failed during a
fight against drones on March 9.
At the same time, Olfi was able to write that the frigate's commander, Sune Lund, sent a message to a number of Defense departments four days after the firefight, in which he described major technical problems with the ship's computer and radar system.
There were also problems with the ship's shells, about half of which exploded before getting near the targets.
This led Troels Lund Poulsen to harshly criticize the Defense Command on Tuesday for not having informed the ministry.
However, according to TV 2's insight into the Defense Command's statement, the ministry received a classified briefing in the form of a so-called XSUM report already two days after the ship's commander's report on March 13.
- On 15 March 2024, the Department of the Ministry of Defense was informed via XSUM message regarding the challenges to the weapon system that had been agreed between the Ministry of Defense and the Defense Command, and which the Ministry of Defense received daily while the ship was in the mission area.
In this connection, according to the statement, a meeting was agreed at the head level, where the ministry was to be informed further:
- The Ministry of Defense asked at the case handler level for elaboration of these matters, and due to classification it was agreed that further information would be available at a future meeting between the head of the operations staff, i.e. FKO, and the head of the Center for Security and Operations in the Ministry of Defence's department. The relations meeting was held on Monday 18 March 2024.
Has informed in a timely manner
The conclusion in the statement is that, despite technical challenges, the actual shooting down of drones was a success.
And that the Defense Command has also informed the ministry in a timely manner.
- The engagement had the desired effect, the Defense leadership was made aware of the challenges immediately after the engagement based on the ship's commander's reports. The department was initially informed via XSUM on 15 March and subsequently more fully informed on 18 March 2024.
According to TV 2's information, it appears from the statement that three so-called Sea Sparrow missiles were used in the firefight against four attack drones. In addition, between 50-100 grenades were used.
Also see
Danish frigate in a firefight in the Red Sea - enemy shot down three times
In relation to Commander Sune Lund's feedback that around half of the grenades did not work as intended, sources in the Defense inform TV 2 that subsequent analyzes have found that the number of errors on grenades is far less.
And when it comes to the feedback that it has been known for years that there were problems with the ship's computer and radar system, according to TV 2's information, the assessment was that there were insignificant software errors that were not critical in a combat situation.
Only during and after the firefight did the Armed Forces realize that the technical challenges were greater than expected. This meant that it was necessary to restart the computer in the frigate's central air defense system, which was therefore down for 30 minutes.
The report, which was sent to the Ministry of Defense last night, is classified "For official use" and will therefore not be published. On the other hand, it is planned that the defense minister will inform the defense settlement parties about the content on Wednesday.
TV 2 has tried in vain to get in touch with Iver Huitfeldt's captain, Sune Lund.
Forsvaret orienterede Forsvarsministeriet om fejl på fregatten blot to dage efter kritisk tilbagemelding, lyder det i en fortrolig redegørelse.
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