Tag Archives: greenland

Already Cold F-16s and CF-18s Have a Chance to Get Colder in Greenland

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As part of NORAD’s recently completed Operation Noble Defender, Canadian CF-18s and USAF F-16s saw an expeditionary deployment from their bases in Quebec and Alaska across the Artic Circle to Pituffik Space Base (ex-Thule AB) in Greenland to operate from there for two weeks.

They were supported by assorted KC-135s, E-3s, C-150s and CH-149s.

Airmen that supported the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, for Operation NOBLE DEFENDER, pose for a group photo at Pittufik Space Base, Greenland, Feb. 5, 2025. Operation NOBLE DEFENDER is an air defense operation under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command designed to demonstrate the command’s ability to defend the approaches of North America from current and future threats while integrating across domains with partners and allies. NORAD routinely conducts sustained, dispersed operations in defense of North America through one or all three NORAD regions, including Alaska, Canada, and the continental U.S. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano)

F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, are placed on the flightline during Operation NOBLE DEFENDER at Pittufik Space Base, Greenland, Jan. 29, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano)

A CF-18 Hornet from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron out of 3 Wing Bagotville, Quebec, and a CC-150 Polaris from 437 (T) Sqn out of 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario, deployed in support of the Canadian NORAD Region (CANR) carry out air-to-air refueling during Operation NOBLE DEFENDER on February 3rd, 2025. (Capt Rachel Brosseau)

CH-149 Cormorant from 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron out of 14 Wing Greenwood, Nova Scotia, deployed to Pituffik, Greenland, in support of the Canadian NORAD Region (CANR), ready to respond to potential distress calls from NORAD assets during Operation NOBLE DEFENDER. (Capt Andrew Birchall)

As noted by NORAD:

During the operation, local temperatures were regularly below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, with the coldest days reaching minus 29 degrees F (-34 C) and a wind chill of minus 56 degrees F (-49 C). Maintenance and Civil Engineering airmen operated tirelessly in these conditions to ensure aircrews were able to conduct flying missions.

Modern Day Greenland Patrol

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When talking over the weekend in reference to the 80th anniversary of the lost USCGC Natsek (WYP-170) during WWII’s massively unsung Greenland Patrol, these images from the Danish Arktisk Kommando— their all-services joint Arctic command that interfaces both with NATO and the U.S., Icelandic, Canadian and UK forces in the region stretching across the Faeroes and Greenland– seems timely.

The below shows the new Rasmussen-class patrol vessels HDMS Knud Rasmussen (P570), HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen (P571), and HDMS Lauge Koch (P572) of 1. Eskadre working the Greenland coastline for the last couple of weeks.

The Danes throughout the Cold War kept a trio of purpose-designed ice-strengthened arctic offshore patrol craft in the region and continue to do so, rotating Royal Danish Navy vessels deployed to Greenland to perform coast-guard duties, while an intrepid 14-man Siriuspatruljen (sled patrol) polices the interior, with the benefit of air-dropped supplies.

The Rasmussens replaced the trio of much smaller (300-ton, 11 knots, 2x.50 cal HMGs) Agdlek-class patrol boats that walked the beat from the 1970s through 2017.

The old Agdlek-class OPVs, exemplified by the HDMS Tulugaq (Y388) seen here, were essentially modified steel-hulled trawler/whaler types, mounting just a pair of .50 cal Brownings

The new 1,700-ton 235-foot vessels are much more capable– not to mention downright naval-looking– with a 76mm M/85 OTO Melera main battery, embarked helicopter/UAV support, and space/weight available for both ASW torpedo tubes and Sea Sparrow missiles.

While low-speed (just 17 knots maximum speed) they are meant to poke around and, with their two large RIBs, send VBSS inspection teams out to check on things both ashore and afloat. Speaking to the latter, they are manned by just an 18-person crew but have accommodations for an embarked helicopter det and a small (16-man) platoon of commando types, of which Denmark has a proficient group.

And, of course, there are some other benefits of walking the Greenland beat, such as plenty of ice for your New Year’s drinks!

Siriuspatruljen at 70

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Happy birthday to the toughest military patrol on Earth, the Danish Navy’s Siriuspatruljen, who were founded this day in 1950, reprising their earlier WWII service. They have been walking the beat uninterrupted for the past 70 years.

Made up of just 14 volunteers headquartered at the station Daneborg, located at 74 degrees north in the Northeast Greenland National Park with a substation at Ella Ø (72 degrees N), the patrol gets its name for the typical mission that sees it break up into two-man teams to dogsled around the isolated coastline, waving the Danish flag and checking for Russians and what not while dodging bitter sub-zero temperatures and the occasional polar bear. Just six teams patrol more than 2,000 nm of coastline.

After completing seven months of training, members of the patrol serve for 26 months on the world’s only military dog sled patrol, with just a Glock 10mm and a bolt-action M1917 .30-06 as backup.

For the nostalgic, here is a window back into the patrol, circa 1965, and little has changed:

The Glocks of Greenland

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Greenland, if you don’t count Australia, is the largest island in the world. It is covered largely in deeply frozen polar ice and is one of the most inhospitable places on earth. Part of the Kingdom of Denmark ever since the time of the Vikings, this massive frozen subcontinent is patrolled by a crack team of volunteers from back home in Europe.

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The elite Slædepatruljen Sirius (Sirius Sledge Patrol) or informally Siriuspatruljen (Sirius Patrol) is a 14-man Royal Danish Navy unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the arctic wilderness of Northern and Eastern Greenland, an area that includes the largest national park in the world.

They are all volunteers who sign up for a two-year tour of duty. If selected they spend the first six-months of their deployment at their home base where they learn their dogs, build their sled (I’m not making this up), and round out their equipment choices while making short trips into the interior.

When the time is right, they pair up and head out on longer patrols, which can cover as much as 2,000 miles, working around the huge island’s coastline. On those deployments, the two sledders are on their own, making reliance on their gear paramount.

Candidates for Slædepatruljen Sirius learn to hunt near Mestersvig, Greenland. [2048x1366]
Their longarm of choice to ward off invasion, polar bears, and frozen space aliens found in the ice: the M17/M53 rifle. This weapon is a (slightly) modified M1917 Enfield 30.06 made in the U.S. during World War 1 for the US Army. They were supplied to the Danish military in 1953 (hence the M17/M53 designation) and are still used by both the Danish Home Guard, a more informal version of the US Army National Guard, and other units.

The regular Danish military issues the 7.62x51mm HK G-3 rifle made in Germany or the modified 5.56mm M-16 made in Canada. However, the Sirrus Patrol, who walks a beat on one of the most inhospitable places on earth, still use a bolt-action rifle made nearly a hundred years ago. Why? Because it works and they find it and its 30.06 round utterly reliable in sub-zero nightmare weather.

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As a sidearm, each member of the patrol also carries on him at all times an early-generation Glock Model 20 pistol in 10mm Auto. Those 10mm aficionados out there know of its power and mystique, but for those who do not lets break it down.
Back in the late 1970s, a group of firearms engineers working on what would later be the controversial Bren 10 pistol visited firearms guru Colonel Jeff Cooper to get his input on the ultimate handgun round. After several months of talks and some final tweaking by Norma cartridges of Sweden, the Centimeter round was fully developed. As you know, a centimeter is 10mm and by 1983 the 10mm Auto burst onto the scene. Using the case of the old .30-caliber Remington carbine round with a 25mm length, the 10mm Auto remains one of the hottest and most powerful production handgun rounds in history.

Typical loads range from 135-200 grain bullets but all deliver over 550 ft. /pounds of energy and approach speeds of almost 1600fps. The 10mm outperforms the .40 S&W by 200–250 ft. /s on average for similar bullet weights and has a pressure of more than 37,500 psi, some 2,500psi higher than the .40S&W. However it still delivers about 100-ft pounds more energy than the average .357SIG round, for about 2,500psi less pressure.

In short, this superhot, hard-hitting round is hard to beat. Moreover, coupled in the G20, you get 15+1 rounds good to go with a loaded weight of 39-ounces, which is about the same as an (unloaded) Colt M1911A1 Government, which is the generational equivalent to the Dane’s old Enfield rifles.

Sirius Patrol recruiting ad (in Danish but with English subtitles), in which you will see a Glock 10mm show up several times. If I had to tackle a polar bear with a pistol, the G20 would be high on our list of options…right behind a sawn off double barrel 8-gauge with an underslung flamenwherfer.

But you can’t beat the views of the neighborhood

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