Danish Defence The armed forces of the Kingdom of Denmark , known as the Danish Defence ( ) is charged with the defence of Denmark and its overseas territories , Greenland and the Faroe Islands . Queen Margrethe II is the de jure Commander - in - Chief per the Danish constitution , however according to the Danish Defence Law the Minister of Defence serves as the commander of the Danish Defence ( through the Chief of Defence and the Defence Command ) and the Danish Home Guard ( through the Home Guard Command ) . De facto the Danish Cabinet is the commanding authority of the Defence , though it cannot mobilize the armed forces , for purposes that are not strictly defence oriented , without the consent of parliament . Denmark also has a concept of " total defence " ( ) . Purpose and task . The purpose and task of the armed forces of Denmark is defined in Law no . 122 of February 27 , 2001 and in force since March 1 , 2001 . It defines three purposes and six tasks . Its primary purpose is to prevent conflicts and war , preserve the sovereignty of Denmark , secure the continuing existence and integrity of the independent Kingdom of Denmark and further a peaceful development in the world with respect to human rights . Its primary tasks are : NATO participation in accordance with the strategy of the alliance , detect and repel any sovereignty violation of Danish territory ( including Greenland and the Faroe Islands ) , defence cooperation with non - NATO members , especially Central and East European countries , international missions in the area of conflict prevention , crises - control , humanitarian , peacemaking , peacekeeping , participation in " Total Defence " in cooperation with civilian resources and finally maintenance of a sizable force to execute these tasks at all times . Defence budget . Since 1988 , Danish defence budgets and security policy have been set by multi - year agreements supported by a wide parliamentary majority including government and opposition parties . However , public opposition to increases in defence spending — during a period when economic constraints require reduced spending for social welfare — has created differences among the political parties regarding a broadly acceptable level of new defence expenditure . The latest Defence agreement ( " Defence agreement 2005 – 2009 " ) was signed June 10 , 2004 , and calls for a significant re - construction of the entire military . From now about 60 % support structure and 40 % combat operational capability , it is to be 40 % support structure and 60 % combat operational capability , i . e . more combat soldiers and fewer " paper " - soldiers . The reaction speed is increased , with an entire brigade on standby readiness ; the military retains the capability to continually deploy 2 , 000 soldiers in international service or 5 , 000 over a short time span . The standard mandatory conscription is modified . Generally this means fewer conscripts , less service time for them and only those who choose so , will continue into the reaction force system . Expenditures . In 2006 the Danish military budget was the fifth largest single portion of the Danish Government ' s total budget , significantly less than that of the Ministry of Social Affairs ( ~ 110 billion DKK ) , Ministry of Employment ( ~ 67 billion DKK ) , Ministry of the Interior and Health ( ~ 66 billion DKK ) and Ministry of Education ( ~ 30 billion DKK ) and only slightly larger than that of the Ministry of Science , Technology and Innovation ( ~ 14 billion DKK ) . This list lists the complete expenditures for the Danish Ministry of Defence . The Danish Defence , counting all branches and all departments , itself has an income equal to about 1 – 5 % of its expenditures , depending on the year . They are not deducted in this listing . Approximately 95 % of the budget goes directly to running the Danish military including the Home guard . Depending on year , 50 – 53 % accounts for payment to personnel , roughly 14 – 21 % on acquiring new material , 2 – 8 % for larger ships , building projects or infrastructure and about 24 – 27 % on other items , including purchasing of goods , renting , maintenance , services and taxes . The remaining 5 % is special expenditures to NATO , branch shared expenditures , special services and civil structures , here in including running the Danish Maritime Safety Administration , Danish national rescue preparedness and the Administration of Conscientious Objectors ( Militærnægteradministrationen ) . Because Denmark has a small and highly specialized military industry , the vast majority of the Danish Defence ' s equipment is imported from NATO and the Nordic countries . Current deployments . Current deployment of Danish forces : Conscription . Technically all Danish 18 - year - old males are conscripts ( 37 , 897 in 2010 ) , and 53 % ( 2010 ) were considered suitable for duty . There is no need for all of them so only a few of them serve ( 5129 in 2010 ) . Ninety - one percent of the conscripts were volunteers . There were additionally 567 female " conscripts " in 2010 .