A Danish Hercules C-130 military transport plane at Nuuk airport, Greenland, on January 14, 2026. OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI/MYOP FOR LE MONDE
Late on Wednesday, January 14, a Danish Hercules C-130 military transport plane landed at an empty airport in Nuuk, Greenland's capital. On the snow-covered road overlooking the runway, as those on the aircraft were driven in two buses to the Joint Arctic Command, the Danish military unit tasked with monitoring the area around Greenland and the Faroe Islands, local drivers pulled over to watch. "What's happening is scary," said a woman. At the same time, a second Hercules C-130 landed 320 kilometers farther north, in Kangerlussuaq. Meanwhile, with all its lights on, the Royal Danish Navy patrol vessel HDMS Knud-Rasmussen, stationed in the middle of Nuuk's cargo port, was clearly visible.
As announced by its defense minister the day before, Denmark was beginning to ramp up its military presence in Greenland, increasing the number of "aircraft, vessels and soldiers, including from NATO allies" deployed there. France, Sweden, Germany and Norway were also set to send military personnel there, as part of Denmark's "Operation Arctic Endurance" exercise, which was urgently put together amid heightened tensions with the United States.
