Denmark’s contribution to enforcing the no-fly zone in Libya has so far cost the country around DEK 31.5 million (EUR 4.2 million), with the figure steadily rising. Tax payers are set to be slapped with an enormous bill, according to calculations by Denmark.dk.
In just the first two weeks since NATO announced the international efforts to topple the Gaddafi regime, six F-16 Danish jets have dropped dozens of precision bombs on the embattled dictator’s combat vehicles and weapons depots. The total expected bill for the bombs, which cost up to DEK 300,000 (EUR 40,200) each, could reach DEK 40 million (EUR 5.4 million) by the end of the first month.
It will also cost to keep fighter jets and military personnel stationed in Sicily, and it is estimated that, if the mission were to continue for a year, as much as four percent of Denmark’s annual defence budget could be consumed. Denmark.dk suggests that the task would cost DEK 850 million (EUR 114 million) in total.
Colonel Anders Rex, head of the Danish forces in Sicily, told the website that pilots should not concern themselves with the cost of the mission. “There’s not much point in thinking, ‘I’d rather not try to go after that target because it will be costly,'” he said. “The important thing is that we make the necessary efforts, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”