FMI and Terma sign a framework agreement for the supply of air defense to the 1st Brigade

[Saithan]

On Thursday, it became official that the Danish defense company Terma will deliver an air defense system to the Army's 1st Brigade. Without much media fanfare, the Ministry of Defence's Material and Procurement Agency and the company signed a framework agreement, which means that Terma will be responsible for the maintenance of the air defense for the next 30 years.​

Denmark's largest defense company, Terma, must supply, build and maintain the air defense for the Army's 1st Brigade for the next 30 years. This is clear after the company and the Ministry of Defence's Material and Procurement Agency (FMI) signed a framework agreement on Thursday with a historically long term and a value of up to five billion kroner. The agency writes this on its website .

The signing took place without media participation and probably went more unnoticed than it would otherwise have done, as the SVM government, with the support of the other parties in the Danish Parliament, decided at about the same time to donate all of the Army's 19 CAESAR artillery pieces to Ukraine . At the same time, it has been clear since September that FMI intended to make a so-called direct award of the agreement to Terma.

With the framework agreement, Terma becomes system and integration responsible for the air defence, which in practice means that Terma must integrate all the system's sub-elements. Some of these, including the weapon part itself, are procured via FMI's existing framework agreements, while Terma must put the procurement of a radar out to competition.


The air force must, to the greatest extent possible, consist of off-the-shelf products rather than new developments and untested material and is expected to be mounted on e.g. The army's armored personnel carriers of the Piranha 5 type, FMI informs.

FMI: Decisive with one main supplier​

With the agreement, Denmark takes an important step towards complying with NATO's strength goals, which it otherwise struggles with in a number of areas. One of the strength goals is precisely the construction of a so-called Very Short Range Air Defense system for the 1st Brigade.

The agreement gives rise to satisfaction in FMI, which emphasizes the importance of placing responsibility for the system with a single supplier:

"This agreement is the cornerstone of the future work to build a Very Short Range air defense system for the Norwegian Armed Forces. For security reasons, it is crucial that we enter into an agreement with one main supplier who can take on system house responsibility for the overall system, including the integration of all sub-systems,' says head of FMI Lieutenant General Kim Jesper Jørgensen.

"At the same time, it is crucial that the overall system integration is carried out by a national supplier in order to ensure significant national security interests. This is to ensure that any "downtime" is minimized and that the need for upgrading and maintenance can be met without the risk of export restrictions from foreign states or problems with long supply lines. I am therefore really happy to be able to sign this 30-year framework agreement with the Danish company Terma.«

"Crucial for the Army's continued development"​

In Terma, you are of course also looking forward to the historically large task of building an air defense system, which you feel extremely well equipped to handle.

»Terma has extensive experience in the delivery of air defense systems, including the Danish army's Low Level Air Defense System M/93, DEHAWK for the Air Force, C-Flex for the Navy as well as similar solutions for civilian companies. We look forward to the future cooperation with FMI and the Norwegian Armed Forces and to taking on the role of system and integration manager for the future Danish air defense systems,' says managing director Jes Munk Hansen.


Among the future users in the delayed 1st Brigade, one is looking forward to being able to use the air defense, says Major General and Army Commander Gunner Arpe Nielsen.

"Acquiring a modern air defense system is crucial for the Army's continued development. It will contribute to us having a strengthened army that is equipped for the modern battlefield.'

Although the contract has now been signed, it will take some time before a finished product is ready for use by the soldiers. The time horizon for the final delivery of the air defense system depends primarily on the production of sub-components among the sub-suppliers. According to OLFI's information, the parties to the agreement expect at least two years to pass before the air defense is ready.

OLFI - FMI og Terma underskriver rammeaftale om levering af luftværn til 1. Brigade

Danmarks største forsvarsvirksomhed, Terma, skal levere, opbygge og vedligeholde luftværnet til Hærens 1. Brigade de næste 30 år. Det står klart, efter at

olfi.dk

 

[Saithan]

Parties feel misled by Ellemann about Israeli arms purchases​

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen asked for quick approval of weapons purchases. Among other things for reasons of the validity of the offer.​

Denmark has donated all its 19 howitzers to Ukraine, and must therefore go out and find a replacement.

In January, Minister of Defense Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (V) gave the Danish Parliament a short time to approve a billion-dollar purchase of weapons from the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit.

But the deadline from the Israelis was not at all as short as the minister gave the impression.

This is written by the Altinget, which has been granted access to the offer from Elbit.

Here Elbit writes that the offer of arms to Denmark for DKK 1.74 billion lasts until the end of June this year.


When the decision had to be made, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen told the Danish Parliament:

"The document is urgent, as the contract with the supplier must be signed as soon as possible and before the end of January for reasons of the validity of the offer, production possibilities and a rapid rebuilding of the operational capacity".

The artillery system from Israel's Elbit is to replace the -artillery system that Denmark has donated to Ukraine.

The new information causes rapporteurs from the Conservative Party, SF and Enhedslisten to accuse the Minister of Defense of misleading the Folketing.


"It has been so important to them that they have felt compelled to misinform Parliament and use false arguments. You have to expect them to stick to the truth when they write to the Folketing", says the Conservatives' finance and defense spokesman, Rasmus Jarlov, to the Alting.

Troels Lund Poulsen (V), who is acting Minister of Defense while Jakob Ellemann-Jensen is on sick leave, has written a letter to the Danish Parliament's Finance Committee on Thursday, in which he mentions the Alting's article and tries to explain.

"The offer from the supplier involved the possibility of receiving sufficient systems to be equivalent to an entire artillery division within about a year," he writes.

"However, the fast deliveries were conditioned on the supplier's side by a quick reservation of space on the production line, which is the background for the wording in the document".

"Thus, it was not the contractual possibility of procurement within the specified price, but rather the possibility of prioritizing a Danish order on the production line as a prerequisite for quick deliveries that was mentioned.

The chairman of the Danish Parliament's finance committee, Simon Kollerup (S), does not believe that there is anything to be done in the matter.

In a text message to Ritzau, he writes:

"According to my best assessment, there is nothing to be found in this case. The Ministry of Defense has provided a supplementary account of the case and immediately informed the committee when questions were raised about the case here, and I consider this to be satisfactory'.

In the quote, Simon Kollerup refers to the letter that Troels Lund Poulsen sent to the committee on Thursday.

ritzau

Source: https://politiken.dk/indland/art9368585/Partier-føler-sig-vildledt-af-Ellemann-om-israelsk-våbenkøb