New article by Johannes Riber in the Norwegian Naval Journal
Johannes Riber, lieutenant commander and postdoc/researcher at the Centre for Military Studies, has published the article "Er den fleksible flåde stadig en succes for Danmark?" (Is the flexible fleet still a success for Denmark?) in the Norwegian Naval Journal (Norsk Tidsskrift for Sjøvesen).
Since the end of the Cold War, the narrative of the flexible fleet has been central to the Royal Danish Navy. The concept was developed as a replacement for the idea of the balanced fleet and originally concerned standardised vessels that, through a modular system, could shift roles between the phases of peace, crisis, and war. With STANDARD FLEX 300, the Navy laid the foundation for this approach in the 1980s, which was later carried forward with, among others, the Absalon and Iver Huitfeldt classes. Here, however, flexibility changed character: from switching modules between phases to the breadth of tasks that could be carried out within an international crisis framework.
In the article, Riber argues that the concept has changed meaning several times along the way, and that flexibility today is primarily justified by future-proofing and standardisation. He points out that this approach also entails challenges, including that dedicated units such as submarines become difficult to fit into the narrative, and that the logic of "prepared for, not fitted with" can lead to deferred investments. Riber argues that, given the rising threat picture in the Arctic and the Baltic Sea, it is worth considering whether flexibility remains the right naval concept, or whether the time has come to refocus on warfighting tasks and a balanced fleet.