French tankers refueling Danish fighters over Greenland to defend against NATO's largest member. This is what European strategic autonomy looks like in practice.
On January 16, two Royal Danish Air Force F-35A stealth fighters conducted patrol flights over Greenland's east coast near Kulusuk, supported by a French Airbus A330 tanker flying from southern France. The mission included aerial refueling and a flyby of the Faroe Islands before returning to Fighter Wing Skrydstrup in Denmark.
Flight Global reports this deployment forms part of Operation Arctic Endurance, launched January 15 - a year-long military exercise centered on Greenland that Denmark requested NATO allies support. France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK have all pledged troops.
The timing is not coincidental. This operation directly responds to President Donald Trump's territorial threats. "We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not," Trump stated, dismissing Danish military capability as merely "two dogsled teams."
Two F-35s supported by a French tanker is Denmark's answer to that dismissal.
The operational details matter. Danish F-35s flying from Skrydstrup to 's east coast requires aerial refueling - the fighters don't have the range to patrol and return without mid-air refueling. doesn't operate its own tanker aircraft. They needed allied support.




