The Ministry of Defence was not fully informed about the issues with defective grenades on the frigate “Iver Huitfeldt”, which experienced system failure during an attack in the Red Sea on March 9. This emerges from a new report published by the Ministry of Defence yesterday. According to the report, the Defence Command (Forsvarskommandoen) and the Ministry of Defence had a meeting on March 18, where the Defence Command did not provide a comprehensive briefing on the mentioned issues. It was only subsequently revealed that the grenade problems were not specifically mentioned during the meeting. Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (V) stated at a press conference on April 3 that he had not been informed about the issues before the news was made public by the Defence Media Olfi on April 2. At the press conference on April 3, the minister also announced that the Chief of Defence (forsvarschef) Flemming Lentfer had been sent home, but stressed that the dismissal was not solely a direct consequence of the frigate case.
The report also describes a telephone contact between a case officer from the Defence Command and a case officer in the ministry on March 15, where there was information about radar failure, but not about the defective grenades. There is no documentation for this conversation. Troels Lund Poulsen has since received further information and is now awaiting a final resolution on the matter. The Minister of Defence has stated that there have been disagreements between the Defence Command and the ministry on how to handle the situation. Chief of Defence Flemming Lentfer had also briefed party leaders and committee members on the shooting down of four drones on March 13, but again, there was no information provided about the technical challenges that the frigate faced during the engagement.
The case continues to develop, and it is expected that more information will come to light in the coming days.