Denmark is Arming its F-16s & F-35s With New Air-to-Air Weapons

by Kris Osborn, Denmark

Denmark is massively revving up its fleet of F-16 and F-35 fighters to improve NATO interoperability, upgrade the F-16s with F-35-like technologies and acquire large numbers of new, more capable air-to-air missiles. 

In a recent $951 million deal with RTX, the Danish military is acquiring 236 AMRAAM AIM 120C air-to-air missiles for its F-35 and F-16 force. These missiles will be added to previous Danish acquisitions of fighter-jet fired weapons to include AIM 120-Cs and some AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II missiles. Both of these missiles, and the AIM 120D have in recent years been substantially upgraded by Raytheon, software adjustments which have improved range, guidance and explosive power of the weapons. Upgrades to the weapon have also “hardened” the guidance systems to ensure they are less likely to be “jammed” while en route to a target. 

There is a clear contradiction, tension or juxtaposition between Congress approving Foreign Military Sales of US-built weapons to Denmark, and fast-escalating tensions between the US and Denmark related to reports that President Trump is interested in potentially acquiring Greenland – a Danish territory,. 

Upgraded AMRAAMS

It is not clear which AMRAAMs Denmark is getting as they may receive “export” variants of the weapons, yet they are likely to substantially improve the size and effectiveness of the Danish arsenal. This gives the Danish Air Force more firepower with which to attack targets or “blanket” an area with munitions, or simply arm a larger fleet of F-16s and F-35s for air-to-air combat. 

U.S. Department of State comment cited in Zona Militar  stated: “The proposed sale will improve Denmark’s capability to meet current and future threats by ensuring it has modern and effective air-to-air munitions. This sale will further strengthen the already high level of interoperability of the Danish Air Force with U.S. Joint Forces, as well as with other regional and NATO forces. Denmark will have no difficulty absorbing these items and services into its Armed Forces.”

Adding F-35 & F-16 “Mass Power” 

An interesting essay in Zona Militar explains that indeed the added weapons are part of an overall effort to upgrade and improve lethality of its fleet of F-16s and add more F-35s. Adding more F-35s makes sense for Denmark as it has already received its first aircraft and a larger fleet will position its Air Force to substantially contribute to a collective, multinational integrated F-35 force. This brings additional deterrence-related implications as it could strengthen any Denmark effort to support NATO’s interest in stopping, thwarting or simply preventing any kind of Russian incursion in Eastern Europe. Lockheed F-35 executives have told Warrior that, by 2030, Europe overall will be armed with hundreds of F-35s, a collective force made much larger and more effective by the existence of a common data link operating across all F-35s called Multi-Function Advanced Data Link (MADL) 

The new weapons will greatly fortify Denmark’s growing fleet of F-35s, a force which is expanding from 27 aircraft to 43 F-35s by 2027, according to an essay in Defense News from Oct., 2025.  Therefore, expanding the arsenal of air-to-air weapons will more fully and effectively “arm” Denmark’s F-35s and better enable a NATO force to “mass” 5th-generation power across the continent. This ability to mass is quite significant for NATO, as Russia is known to only operate 15-to-20 combat ready Su-57s with plans to have a force of 76 aircraft by 2028. Russia has struggled with production and cost challenges with its Su-57 fleet, so the country would operate at a substantial 5th-generation air-power “deficit” in the event of a Russia-NATO conflict. 

F-35 & F-16 Synergy

The new air-to-air weapons bring the added advantage of arming Denmark’s fleet of F-16s as well, which have in recent years been receiving substantial service life extension upgrades to ensure the decades old aircraft can remain functional and operationally relevant surging into the coming decades. An ability to fortify a growing 5th-gen fleet of F-35s with upgraded 4th-gen F-16s is quite significant as it contributes to Denmark’s overall ability to add firepower. Stealthy 5th-generation F-35s can help a European force establish air superiority in a conflict with Russia, an operational environment in which 4th-gen F-16s can provide added air attack support. This circumstance is improved by a fast-increasing ability for F-35s to interoperate and share target information with 4th-gen aircraft. This target sharing between F-35s and F-16s is greatly enhanced by the extent to which F-16 can be upgraded with a retrofitted AESA radar similar to what’s on the F-35. AESA radar is not only more precise and higher resolution but can also track multiple targets at one time. In a tactical sense, this means F-35s and F-16s are well positioned to acquire targets, share information and form a combined air attack force. 

Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University