Denmark warns one of their missiles could launch unintentionally

Without cost actual time breaking information alerts despatched straight to your inbox signal as much as our breaking information emails

Signal as much as our free breaking information emails

Denmark closed a part of its airspace and one of many world’s busiest delivery lanes on Thursday following a failed missile check.

Vessels have been warned to not sail by the Nice Belt strait, the primary maritime entry to the Baltic Sea, after a technical error on a navy vessel near the Danish coast.

“The issue occurred throughout a compulsory check the place the missile launcher is activated and can’t be deactivated,” the navy stated in a press release.

“Till the missile launcher is deactivated, there’s a danger that the missile can hearth and fly a couple of kilometres away.”

A naval train was ongoing within the space, a navigational warning confirmed.

The warning coated an space some 5 to seven kilometres of the Nice Belt bridge, which crosses the strait. The bridge remained open to site visitors, its operator stated.

The Danish navy stated the missile was launched from the frigate Niels Juel, which has taken half in Nato workouts after becoming a member of its standing naval drive final yr.

In a press release, the navy stated the missile failure had been brought on by a “technical” downside and that specialists had been deployed to hold out an investigation.

Nonetheless, till the booster is disabled, “there’s a danger that the missile might launch and fly a number of kilometres away”.

The incident occurred throughout a check of a Harpoon missile, with the navy saying the failure affected solely the booster, which means there was no hazard of the missile exploding.

Native police have been additionally knowledgeable in regards to the incident and ships have been requested to attend whereas the issue was resolved.

Earlier this yr the Niels Juel was a part of numerous Nato warships that took half in workouts off the UK coast.

HMS Prince of Wales additionally took half in Joint Warrior, a mission aimed toward testing the readiness of the UK Provider Strike Group and its capability to discourage threats.

Nato has ramped up workouts within the waters round Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.