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Denmark intends to dismantle its "DeHawk" air defense missile system and its multiple rocket launch system (MLRS) as part of an ongoing project to reform its military, Defense Minister Svend Aage Jensby said on Thursday. The reform, which Jensby described as "the most significant since the Second World War", is meant to concentrate the country's military resources around international operations rather than on territorial defense. "NATO is in the midst of evaluating the future of this kind of air-defense system, and it would take major investment to maintain the standard of the DeHawk missiles," Jensby said in a debate on Danish TV2, where he attempted to justify Denmark's decision to abandon the missile system. "The Cold War is over, and... there is no longer a threat of conventional war against the borders" of our country," he said. This also explains Denmark's decision to dismantle the MLRS system, he said, insisting that surface-to-surface missiles are no longer needed "because there is no longer a threat of invaders... along the Danish coasts." The two missile systems cost Danish tax-payers about two billion kroner (329 million dollars, 268 million euros), according to media reports. The reformed military intends to invest in a number of other areas. It will, for instance spend 2.9 billion kroner annually, or 15 percent of its 19.1 billion kroner budget, on new equipment and material. It will also continue to participate in the US-led next generation Joint Strike Fighter program, as it moves towards replacing its fleet of F-16, and will put aside nearly four billion kroner towards the construction of three new Viking submarines, Jensby said. "I's wrong to believe that these submarines are meant to sink enemy ships. They will above all be used for information-gathering operations," Jensby said, pointing out that "the United States was very satisfied with the use of one of our submarines during the war in Iraq, due to its operational capabilities very close to the coast." All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Quick Links
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