In a somewhat dramatic turnaround following last year’s announcement by the Danish Ministry of Defence that the Thetis-class offshore patrol vessels would receive a lifetime extension, minister of defence Troels Lund Poulsen has this week declared that a replacement of the four-strong class is needed and that funding for this project should be secured. The statement came during a visit by the minister to Greenland, where he met with Vivian Motzfeldt, the minister responsible for foreign affairs as part of the government of the autonomous Danish territory.
The Thetis-class is approaching forty years of service, and is of particular interest to the autonomous territories of the realm, as they serve a significant part of their times guarding the waters and interests of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The vessels are worn following decades of service in the North Atlantic, and the urgency of replacing them rose to the forefront in recent weeks as two of the more modern Knud Rasmussen-class Arctic patrol vessels have spent weeks tied up in the port of Nuuk following an undiagnosed issue with the auxiliary machinery aboard. To ensure a naval Danish presence in the Arctic, Triton of the Thetis-class was sent to Greenland, but broke down while enroute to the extent she also had to undergo repairs following her arrival.
To make matters worse, the Thetis-class represent part of Denmark’s contribution to NATO’s capability targets for the country, which include three vessels corresponding to a so called “Warship Limited”-capability. However, it is clear that the Thetis-class does not in fact meet these requirements, in particular when it comes to sensors, weapons, and combat management systems.
Rear Admiral Hendrik Ryberg, admiral of the Danish Fleet, in an interview with the Danish public broadcaster DR confirms that he sees replacing these vessels as an urgent need, though he also notes that other service branches might have yet more pressing concerns. This refers to the earlier announced 20 billion euros of additional funds to the Danish armed forces as a whole, and discussions currently are underway regarding how to allocate these funds.
So far no details on size, capability, number of vessels, or schedule has been announced. Rear Admiral Ryberg does however state that given the current mission set of the Navy, it is clear that at least “some” more combat-capable surface vessels are required. This, together with the capability target of three “Warship Limited”, would indicate that the replacement will indeed be frigates rather than offshore patrol vessels. As such, if the minister of defence gets his wish and the preplacement class is ordered, this represents a significant step up in capability for both the Danish Navy as well as for NATO-forces in the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap during a time of high tensions in the Arctic.
While it is still too early to discuss requirements and concepts, it is noteworthy that the UK Type 31 frigate, which also has seen some export success, is a development of the Danish Iver Huitfeldt-class designed by local company OMT. In addition, an “Arctic Frigate” design was unveiled last year by local company OSK Design. During DSEI 2023, company representatives touted that design as a Thetis-class replacement.
Naval News interviewed RADM Ryberg in August 2023 on the current fleet, challenges and future programs:
