Host Nation Support

Denmark provides logistical support when allied forces – for example from the USA or Great Britain – are to be deployed in the east. The task is called Host Nation Support.

Host Nation Support means that the Armed Forces, in close cooperation with the Home Guard, the police and relevant civil authorities, support alliance partners during their stay in Denmark.

The Host Nation Support task is solved when the equipment of Denmark's alliance partners arrives in Denmark and has to be reloaded onto transport ships or transported overland, while hundreds or even thousands of soldiers have to eat and sleep en route. It is a major logistical operation that requires coordination, overview and heavy logistical skills.

American armor and equipment at the harbour in Esbjerg in the spring of 2022, when the largest ship to date docked at the quay. Americans, Britons and Danes work closely together to solve the major logistical task of getting vehicles and equipment ashore and transported onward. Photo: Magnus Terp / The Armed Forces

In 2022 and 2023, Denmark has provided host nation support to the USA, which has landed large quantities of vehicles and other material in the ports of Esbjerg and Aarhus before it has been transported further east. With the current security situation, the Danish Armed Forces expect that the host nation's tasks will grow in size and has to be solved more frequently.