Denmark has created a new Royal Danish Air Force unit to operate its incoming long-range drones, formally standing up 729 Squadron on February 16, 2026.
According to the Danish Defense Command, the squadron will home four remotely piloted aircraft to support surveillance of Danish interests in the Arctic, the North Atlantic, and the Baltic Sea, with the first aircraft expected from 2028.
The new squadron will sit under the Air Force Air Transport Wing and be physically based at Aalborg Air Base, Denmark’s defense command said.
The MQ-9B SeaGuardian is a version of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9B SkyGuardian long-endurance drone designed specifically for maritime missions. It can fly for 24 hours or more and perform intelligence gathering, ocean monitoring, and target identification simultaneously.
