| Danish Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| Forsvaret | |
| Motto | Fordi noget er værd at kæmpe for (transl. Because something is worth fighting for) |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Current form | Defence Agreement 2018–23 |
| Service branches |  Royal Danish Army Royal Danish Navy Royal Danish Air Force Home Guard |
| Headquarters | Holmen Naval Base, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Website | Official Website |
| Leadership | |
| Monarch[a] |  Frederik X |
| Prime Minister |  Mette Frederiksen |
| Minister of Defence |  Troels Lund Poulsen |
| Chief of Defence |  General Michael Hyldgaard act. |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 18 for voluntary service |
| Conscription | Yes, for men and women. |
| Available for military service | 2,605,137, age 18–49 (2023) |
| Fit for military service | 2,107,794, age 18–49 (2023) |
| Reaching military age annually | 76,970[2] (2023) |
| Active personnel | 21.000 military & 4.638 civilian (2024)[3] |
| Reserve personnel | 12,000 + 51,000 volunteers in the Home Guard |
| Deployed personnel | 800 (2024)[4] |
| Expenditure | |
| Budget | DKK 60 billion (8 billion €) (2024)[5] |
| Percent of GDP | 2 % (2024)[6] |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military history of Denmark |
| Ranks | Army ranks Navy ranks Air force ranks |
Danish Armed Forces (Danish: Forsvaret; Faroese: Danska verjan; Greenlandic: Illersuisut; lit. 'the Defence') is the unified armed forces of the Kingdom of Denmark charged with the defence of Denmark and its self-governing territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The military also promote Denmark's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.[7]
Since the creation of a standing military in 1510, the armed forces have seen action in many wars, most involving Sweden, but also involving the world's great powers, including the Thirty Years' War, the Great Northern War, and the Napoleonic Wars.
Today, the armed forces consists of: the Royal Danish Army, Denmark's principal land warfare branch; the Royal Danish Navy, a blue-water navy with a fleet of 20 commissioned ships; and the Royal Danish Air Force, an air force with an operational fleet consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The Defence also includes the Home Guard. Under the Danish Defence Law[8] the Minister of Defence serves as the commander of Danish Defence (through the Chief of Defence and the Defence Command) and the Danish Home Guard (through the Home Guard Command). De facto the Danish Cabinet is the commanding authority of the Defence, though it cannot mobilize the armed forces, for purposes that are not strictly defence oriented, without the consent of parliament.
- ^ "My Constitution Act with Explanations 2013". Folketing. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "Statistik - maj 2016".
- ^ "Number of employees". forpers.dk (in Danish). Danish Defence. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ Danish Defence (30 May 2018). "Forsvaret i verden lige nu". Forsvaret.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ "Danish Defence expenditure 2022".
- ^ "Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2012-2019)" (PDF). NATO Public Diplomacy Division. 25 June 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-08. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ Defence Command Denmark (23 May 2016). "Mission and Objectives". Forsvaret.dk. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ^ "LOV nr 122 af 27/02/2001 om forsvarets formål, opgaver og organisation m.v." (in Danish). Retrieved 2012-07-30.
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