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A LEADING US jet fighter manufacturer has said the Irish Air Corps could buy or lease second-hand aircraft from other European air forces which are now adopting the more modern stealth variants.
In a presentation to a defence summit organised by non-profit policy group Slándáil in Dublin this week, JR Wildridge of Lockheed Martin suggested that Ireland could alternatively get new fighters from his company – including the F16 or the cheaper South Korean manufactured FA-50 jet.
Earlier this year the Commission on the Defence Forces set out a series of recommendations around the Irish Air Corps. In the most ambitious set of suggestions it said that Ireland would get 12 fighter jets to police Irish airspace.
In the coming weeks the government is set to announce its implementation plan for the Irish Defence Forces.
In its findings the Commission noted flights of Russian bombers in particular, which have been conducting so-called training missions down the West coast.
This has been declared a significant danger to civilian aircraft, but the Commission found it also causes significant economic disruption as a result of delayed or diverted flights.
To counter this the Commission recommended the immediate development of primary radar. At present Ireland does not have equipment to detect and monitor every aircraft travelling overhead.
The capability of fighter jets to intercept incoming rogue aircraft was also mentioned in the report. It would be a costly endeavour and take more than a decade to get a squadron to the point of readiness, but this is seen as a critical aspiration.
There is also a recommendation that these fast jets would be in a squadron of up to 12 aircraft.
In his presentation Wildridge made the case for the Irish Air Corps to use the T-50 South Korean aircraft and said this could be done in a cost effective manner.
Wildridge spoke of the first option being the purchase of F-16 fighters, the second was to avail of the cheaper jet trainer FA-50 from South Korea. Both of these aircraft could be purchased from Lockheed, he said.
The third option is to take second hand aircraft from various air forces now moving to the more modern F-35.
“This process of moving these aircraft from one operator to another one is called a third party transfer and it’s going on right now for us to meet the needs other countries with similar needs to Ireland,” he said.
Defence sources believe that if Government are to address the airspace policing shortfall within a decade the most viable option is the “lead in fighter trainer aircraft” – that would be found in the FA-50 Korean built jets.
A security source believes that a squadron of jets could be cheaper than the purchase of a naval vessel.
“T-50 training aircraft or the fully armed FA-50 is €30 million each. Ireland could have a squadron for less than the price of our next naval ship which is costing €300m.
“Any deal would be spread out over a number of years and paid in increments. The current PC-9 must be replaced by 2025 onwards and the T-50 is a leading contender to be the Air Corps next training aircraft.
“It can fly supersonic so it can be used to police Irish skies and respond to airspace violations,” the source explained.
Minister for Defence Simon Coveney is set to present his recommendations arising from the Commission to Cabinet in a matter of weeks.
Speaking in Lebanon last week An Taoiseach Micheál Martin said more work was needed before the implementation was made public.
Whether or not fighter jets will be involved in this implementation has not been revealed.
A security source, who has knowledge of the procurement process, told The Journal that Ireland could enter a deal with Lockheed Martin or other providers such as the Swedish Saab or France’s Dassault for a set amount of aircraft.
Sources believe that Irish Air Corps pilots proficient on the PC-9 could be trained as quickly as 12 months on the T-50.
Put a fuggin rail line to the airport first. Jeez…..
@Thomas Meaney: That’s a vanity project. Build a rail line but build it for commuters. Dublin airport is one of the easiest airports to get to in Europe by car or bus
@Thomas Meaney: Don’t forget navan either! Our wonderful green party have and now the remaining line in the town is getting torn up for a cycle way
@Mickety Dee: unless there is a crash
@Mickety Dee: provided there’s no accident on the M1 / M50
@Mickety Dee: said the man from Dublin
@Hugh Mc Donnell: yup, that’s the greens for you. That & taxes.
@Mickety Dee: How is a commuter link from swords, passing through the airport, linking to town a vanity project? The current metro north plan terminates in Seatown…… Its a much needed piece of infrastructure for commuters, airport workers and tourists! It would make life easier for so many and take thousands of cars off the road daily. Population of Swords is massive.
@Thomas Meaney: which airport? There are 4 international airports in the state, none of which have a rail link.
@D. Memery: ALL OF THEM!!!!!
Or we could use the money to try stop children having to eat their dinners off pieces of cardboard in the street.
@The Risen: As my grandfather said, the poor will always be with us. The Romans could have given the money they spent on the colosseum to help the poor but then we’d still have the poor and no colosseum.
@The Risen: one doesn’t preclude the other and saying so is disingenuous and shows a lack of knowledge of how government spending works
@Peazel: Well, something seems to be precluding the stopping of children living in poverty so what is it?
@JedBartlett: sure as hell ain’t money pal
@Peazel: Ok, well if it ain’t money then let’s go ahead and spend some money on second hand jets that we absolutely do not need. Solid plan pal
@JedBartlett: but we do need them. You just don’t know why because you aren’t arsed to learn why or don’t want to…. And do you want to know why the government wont solve homeless ahead of other big ticket items? Because it affects about 10000 people so the return on that investment is small. Whereas a second runway at the airport or new roads or anything else really will affects tens to hundreds of thousands or millions of people..now who has more votes? The 10000 homeless or the rest of the country. I’ll leave the math to you.
@Peazel: the return on the investment on solving homeless crisis is small?. I’ve Heard it all now if a return is what your looking for when helping people in need then your a sorry excuse for a human being.
@Peazel: Capitalism has done awful things to peoples sense of morals. Wouldn’t want to be related to you, unless you see a return or some sort of profit you wouldn’t help someone in need…
@Peazel: Oh dear, you’re not another one of those who thinks we’re in danger of being invaded by the Russians are you? Maybe it’s best if you stay off social media for a while
@Peazel: you’re a lost cause.
@Peazel: Second had jets? Chances are the reason they are second hand is the fact they are already obsolete. Of course it would suit a certain section to spend millions on arms rather than care for the most vulnerable in society. After all according to FFG money does not grow on trees. Perhaps it would be cheaper to throw the electronic voting machines at the invader than buying obsolete jet fighters.
@Roy Dowling: to the government yes it is
@JedBartlett: lolz funny guy, keep up the comedy… Yeah no we aren’t in any danger. But we are a weak link on the western fringes of Europe and NATO and unless you forget Russian aircraft incursions into our airspace are constant and numerous. Let’s just continue to rely on British jets to fend them off. Sounds good to me.
@Donal Desmond: hardly obsolete, you’re showing your ignorance buddy. Keep up the good work. Read the article maybe.
@Fergal McDonagh: I live to give
@Peazel: You will not be happy until a nuclear war brakes out… you believe your own propaganda.
@Michael Drennan: The Romans could have given the money they spent on the colosseum to help the poor but then weâd still have the poor and no colosseum.
@Michael Drennan: The Romans could have given the money they spent on the colosseum to help the poor but then we’d still have the poor and no colosseum.
@Donal Desmond: would you ever go back to sleep
@Peazel: If your kind including Martin who considers himself a war time Taoiseach the whole world will sleep permanently.
@Tacita O’Copa: so where is our colosseum?
And I’m sure we can gladly explain to those pesky homeless people in Ireland that some vanity project for tourists to fawn over in a few hundred years is more important than they are.
@Donal Desmond: yaaaaaawn
We definitely should have primary military radar sweeping our coasts at the very least. It’s a safety factor apart from anything else. There could be multiple military aircraft in the skies above Ireland and we have no way of detecting them without this capability.
@Skipper Mac: We have police officers who are not allowed to drive their cars with sirens on due to a lack of training. We need to sort out the basics first before going into full Top Gun mode.
@David Corrigan: the Air Corps have sorted out their “basics” what the hell has the Gardai got to do with the Air Corps?
@Peazel: Priorities. Let’s address and fix the weakness in our police force before we start to looking at high end weapons for our air corps. Pipe the money into training our cops and cut out the nonsense.
@David Corrigan: yes the defense of our air is nonsensical. I’ll say the same to you as I said above. If you think one of these costs preclude the other, especially since the Gardai(with their own budget) control what they spend their money on (training or not), then you’re ignorant of how government spending and budgeting works between different departments.. enough of this ridiculous “ah but what about the homeless, what about the broadband in rural Ireland, what about this or that. Should we not invest in green technology until we solve the homeless issue too, what about the new runway at the Airport (which will generate multitudes of economic activity)?
@Peazel: Clearly you are struggling with this. Address the low hanging issues first and then look at the other stuff. Having cops who are not allowed to use their sirens is embarrassing.
Secondly, address the retention issue within our defense forces. Pay them a proper salary. Moral is on the floor already. Sort out the basics.
@David Corrigan: I think you’re struggling buddy. Again cops are a different department. I believe both aircraft and retention were covered in the forces report mentioned in this article, ya know the one that suggested fighter aircraft. So it looks like they are looking into both. Basics and fighters. Happy?
@Peazel: Ah yeah. Another report.
@David Corrigan: I’ll take that as a win. Cheers.
@David Corrigan: The NGO budget for 2021 was €5.6 billion
The Garda budget for 2021 was €1,952 Billion.
The Defence budget for €1,072 million,
€262 million was to pay pensions,
€658 million was payroll,
€129 was equipment and infrastructure,
€23 was unspent and returned to the Exchequer.
@Skipper Mac: The IAA have primary radar to detect them. https://www.iaa.ie/air-traffic-management/technology/surveillance-radar
@John Kennedy: John, check your commas, the garda budget was 1 point 952 billion, not 1,952 billion when the tax revenue figures for 2021 were €68.4 billion
@Paul Hedderman: That is not primary radar to a military spec, it relies on aircraft using it’s transponder. The IAA themselves said in a submission to the Commission on Defence that they are blind to foreign military aircraft with their transponders switched off and its a matter of great concern to them.
@D. Memery: Typo’s, be the death of me, still with eagle eye’s like you around, i need not worry. :-)
@Eoin Roche: So youre saying that if a Russian bear flew within range of one of the IAAs primary radars that they wouldn’t see anything? That doesnt make any sense! Primary radar by its definition doesnt need transponder to detect objects.. It receives a return on the signal it transmits reflected off objects. Secondary radar relies on transponder hence the return of information from the transponder. Maybe they’re “blind” in regards to what they normally see on radar for commercial aircraft, otherwise whats the point on them keeping their primary radar working if it offers nothing compared to the more modern radars.
@Eoin Roche: Whats primary radar to a military spec? What differences are there to that and what the IAA would have?
https://skybrary.aero/articles/primary-surveillance-radar-psr
@Paul Hedderman: Paul, the IAA’s primary radar is a rudimentary short range system for airport approach control. The longer range civilian ATC is a secondary system, which *cannot* see aircraft in its range, without transponders being switched on. In other words, the IAA is blind to uncooperative military aircraft over the vast majority of its area of responsibility and over all higher altitudes. Have a read of the Commission on Defence recommendations, which include a high-powered long range, land based primary radar, under military control, for the tracking of rogue contacts to a high altitude and over the full extent of Ireland’s large air traffic area of responsibility.
@Eoin Roche: Thanks
We should definitely do this. We need a few jets for defence purposes, especially when we get the North back and can’t pretend the U.K. might protect us from an attack. Moreover, we should have them to do the flyover Croke Park on All Ireland Sunday – tri colour streaming out the back of them. Surely worth a few bob?!
@Nomad: We need a few jets for defence purposes? We are not under attack.
@Tacita O’Copa: so let’s wait until we are under attack…? Lol
@Ciaran: what will a few jets do ….we need lots of jets and bombs…no bigger bombs .yeah with rockets …and guidance systems and ranges of fifty miles no we need ICBMs yueh the ones that make that lovely mushroom shape that disintegrate everything in it’s path….and an army not just any army but a super army with super soldiers…and lots and lots of guns ….that sounds like a great idea…
@Michael Nolan: Apparently it’s true what they say, you can’t argue with s7up1d.
@Eoin Roche: you got that right bud
So the proposal sounds like this. We waste €300 million for a relatively small squadron of 10 aircraft, made up of potentially second hand, or inferior outdated aircraft, to try and keep up with the cutting edge, brand new, vastly superior superjets of a superpower, who have been doing this for decades. I think the radar sounds like a better option. Attempting to run / compete with the big boys is a money pit that we will never fill …..
@Denis Hourihane: so what your saying is, get the radar to detect any incursions into our airspace and when we detect one call on our British neighbours to send over their jets? Like a neighbourhood-watch sort of deal? And what if Brits say no? Call on the French? Spanish? Belgians? Germans? Dutch? Danes? Or Norwegians? How long before any of those can scramble their jets and make it to our west coast to see off any unwanted planes?
What’s the plan when they all say no? Send a strongly worded letter to the Russian embassy?
@Míleata Watch Co: we have a agreement with the uk to patrol our airspace.
@Míleata Watch Co: How many jets would you like? Will we get ten? A few cruise missiles and they’re all gone. An aircraft carrier could knock out all Ireland’s defences in a few minutes. Why try play with the big boys, just so we can hand more public money to private hands? That’s all the elites here are good at.
@Míleata Watch Co: As long as the US use Shannon airport for troops and weapons lay over the British will send jets to intercept any potential threat to Ireland.
@Roy Dowling: lol. Keep pretending you have any feckin idea about what you’re talking about
Selling us their junk so that they could buy a newer one.
LoL
@John Johnes: Sure the Irish government are a great bunch of lads altogether. Always waving the chequebook around to solve every other country’s problems.
About time Ireland grew up and accepted responsibility for its own safety and security not having to forever depend on the RAF in times of need, neutrality is just a money saving cop out its not an option when danger threatens.
@Richard Mccarthy: cop out? The cop out are the people who are seeing danger where it doesn’t exist.
@Roy Dowling: #IrishAirCorps are the real danger. #99dead #DelayDenyDie
@Roy Dowling: A country needs to be able to defend itself. Don’t think the Russians haven’t noticed the soft underbelly in European defence… that’s us. Don’t think they won’t try and exploit it. They’ve already been having a look at our undersea cables. Lose them and you won’t be posting here.
@Joey Seery: “Don’t think the Russians haven’t noticed the soft underbelly in European defense…. That’s us”. Is that the same Russia that can’t take Ukraine a country it shares a massive land border with. You seriously think they have the capability to take and hold an country thousands of miles away from them. The naval resources alone to get here are emourous and it would place the majority of its navy smack bang in the middle of the US and British navy. The resources they would need to put in to build a border with the Northern Ireland etc. Russia has no interest in us. We’d be a waste of resources. “They have been looking at our undersea cables”. Any actual proof of that? Other that speculation?. Like I said the cop out is people looking at a danger that’s not there
@Roy Dowling: destroying/damaging undersea cables would be the most obvious thing they would look at, it’s cheap and highly effective.
@Karma? Puh-lease!: Many alternate cables to reroute internet traffic. Damaging the global internet system will have a knock on effect for them as well.
@Roy Dowling: and yet arson Roy weren’t you the one who said that Russia attempting to invade Ukraine was nonsense?
yet you were proven false!
@Alan Richard Scott Jr.: Nope that wasn’t me. What I actually said was. Russian mobilising it’s army on the Ukrainian border for 2 month’s then invading wouldn’t make sense. All they are doing is allowing Ukraine to bring in more weapons and dig in.. that’s what I said. And you’ll find i was correct Ukraine brought in lots of shinny new NATO weapons dug in are continuing to fight. Now imagine Russia invaded in December. Do you think Ukraine could have held on without that 2 months prep.
second-hand Ireland. Many of our ideas are second-hand too.
@Garreth Byrne: including your second hand comment of originality .?
Long overdue. I think the jets just need to be fast rather than fighters. We have a large area of the Atlantic to cover. Just look up shanwick area control. At the moment we ring the RAF to intercept including search and rescue help. Ireland should police it’s own skies.
Absolute waste of.money. Can they buy helecopters instead that can be used for rescues as well as patrols . Cost half the money and much more versatile. Who are we going to stop with these things.
@Michael Dowling: Where do you buy your cheap helicopters for rescue? I’d love to know…
@Michael Dowling: whilst the media have latched onto the media friendly idea of jets, the report also outlines an increase in helicopter capabilities, among a range of other recommendations
@Michael Dowling: helicopters don’t have the range or speed to intercept all but the slowest fixed wing aircraft. They might be useful to the army but they’d be useless for defending our airspace.
@Karma? Puh-lease!: Defending against who? Everyone needs to calm down.
Buying Gripens from Saab would seem to make the most sense, as opposed to F16s. Yes, F16s are probably the more complete machine, but neither Gripens nor F16s are stealth aircraft, and for Ireland’s air requirements (namely, the ability to intercept incursions into our air space with supersonic aircraft), Gripens do the job, are more affordable upfront and cost a lot less to operate, plus are designed to be able to fly from improvised runways. In an actual combat situation, which we are unlikely to face, Gripens are not the best for close range combat against supermaneuverable aircraft like the Sukhois, but their long range combat capabilities are superb. F35s are nice and all, but a) we don’t need stealth capabilities and b) at over €30,000 for an hour’s flight time, they are far more expensive to operate than Gripens. Furthermore, Sweden has leased and sold second hand Gripens to other countries, so perhaps we could avail of such an option. For those criticising the government for considering buying second hand, it makes perfect economic sense for us, since our tactical requirements are not the same as those of the countries who might be looking to upgrade their fleet to F35s, and thereby look to offload their current inventory.
All part of the big push to create an EU army. Expect more and more of these articles from the likes of the Journal eho get funding off the EU for spreading ‘facts’
@Bricesypherthron Smith: Given Russia’s recent behaviour that doesn’t sound like a bad thing.
Talk to me goose.
@Allora: Honk.
Q: Is our current government gullible enough to buy second-hand, money-guzziling, war machines just to get a pat on the head from the EU-US arms dealers? A: Yes.
The PC-9s are cute, we should get those again.
as usual the lefties think that other counties should give us defence but don’t ask little oul Ireland to do anything.
It’s time to ditch our non alignment Movement and join the rest of the EU in the 21st century.
People say Ireland is neutral, eh no we aren’t, we gave the allies intelligence during the Normandy invasion. Without that intelligence the invasion would have failed.
Some dont know their history it seems!
@Alan Richard Scott Jr.: Even if we stayed non-aligned, at this point the least that is expected of us internationally, is to mind our own patch to the same standard as, say, Norway, Spain and Portugal. At the moment we’re a million miles off being able to do that.
@Alan Richard Scott Jr.: who are we asking for defence and who are they defending us from? We’re not at war, neither are we at risk of being invaded. History tells me that 2 world wars have happened and not once was Ireland invaded. Yes both Germany and Britain(Churchill before he was prime minster) had plans to invade us in ww2 but neither did. Anyone who thinks Russia is going to mass the bulk of its fleet to travel thousands of miles to invade this country are delusional. The resources needed to get here take and hold this country then to create border to stop free movement with Northern Ireland(UK) and all the while sandwiching the bulk of its fleet between the British and US navy’s. If you lot think we’re worth the hassle then you’ve been watching to many movies.
@Roy Dowling: and yet you said Russia invading Russia was the media getting excited?
Russia won’t be flying over the ocean to get to us, where did you learn geography?
@Alan Richard Scott Jr.: Say Russia did indeed fly over. Howamy heavy cargo planes do the have to carry over the tanks, and other heavy military equipment needed to take and hold us. How do they plan on stopping other countries supplying our country with weapons to fight them without bringing their navy to set up a naval blockade preventing other countries vessels entering our waters?. We also share a border with Northern Ireland (The UK). How many troops and resource would be needed to prevent free travel and weapons crossing border to help us. They would hardly take Ireland and then let the British or anyone else who travels into Northern Ireland travel freely in our occupied country now are they?.
To take and hold this country would be a nightmare for Russia and waste of resources.
The maintenance of any fighter jet is astronomical not to mention training and fuel. Helicopters are much more suitable for ireland.
@John Murphy: what are you suggesting? Apache, Cobra, Tiger attack helicopters!
@John Murphy: Helicopters? For high speed interception over the Ocean? What are you on about?
Done Deal
For Sale …. F16… one careful previous owner…..
The other three flew the s%ite out of it.
Denmark with a similar population to Ireland has 33 F16s, 3 F35s with 24 in order.
It’s an absolute joke that Ireland has no fighter aircraft capable of defending our airspace.
The PC-9 is a very capable aircraft, its up there with the Spitfire
@Aidy McBride: Yes be brilliant if it was in a dog fight with a messerschmitt bf 109.
Wonder do Lockheed Martin do PCP ?
They’re just getting excited coz they watched the new top gun
Probably won’t happen, we’ll just continue with our present de facto air force. The RAF.
It’s a closely guarded secret but we’ve got 60 squadrons flying stealth aircraft, and they’re so stealthy we can’t see them.
Forget buying fighter jets that will be obsolete in 10 years time it will be a logistics night mare seen that Ireland is going green nothing green about these planes second hand parts cost money that’s if you can buy parts.
Has the Irish government learned anything from the war in Ukraine plenty fighter jets blown out of the sky.
Ireland is better of buying the Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle.
Remotely controlled or autonomous at a cost of $12 million. I’m sure with all the technology and colleges universities that get government money too work on projects our scientists could come up with a cheaper drone like the Russians used with a Sony camera.
@Patrick Spillane: the Bayraktar has a top speed of 220kph. The slowest planes it would try to intercept would travel at least 3 times as fast. Not much use so.
@Patrick Spillane: bayraktars are great investment if you are planning to invade Northern Ireland or if you are expecting ground invasion from the UK. Otherwise a big NO. Ireland needs air space policing which requires super sonic planes not ground attack drones. Otherwise sending Bayraktar or any other drones to chase after TU-95 or any other air vehicle is just beyond ridiculous, current PC-9s would do a better job than drones
You we are starting to treat our neutrality seriously for once. How would a Sinn Fein lead government agree to the present situation where rely on the RAF (a NATO member) to protect our skies? We are the weak link of EU security as we don’t have military radar and our civilian radar cannot pick up aircraft with their transponders turned off which Russian aircraft often do flying down our West Coast. Protecting neutrality isn’t cheap but we have ignored it properly since 1939 with the idea We are Irish and everyone loves us rational.
@Paul Guckian: Protecting neutrality is cheap. No one is interested in wasting their energies to attack us. Would we attack Iceland? No, it makes no sense. Threats to Ireland are a false alarm which will continue to be rung by those with weaponry to sell.
Give peace a chance
Typical Irish government, don’t dare fix our existing problems, just create new problems. Next thing they’ll be telling us, we have the planes now, problem is we have no pilots to fly them. Perish the thought they’d look into to that side of things before buying the planes
It’s a pity that when The Journal went far enough to tell us a “defence summit organised by non-profit policy group Slándáil in Dublin” took place that they didn’t go the extra 10 m to explain who this never-before-heard-of Slándáil is.
First of all, it is not a nonprofit organization. It is a profit-making private company founded by Ciarán McNally which describes itself as a “boutique security consulting company” – a phoney-baloney, self-admiring formula. Boutique is a bogus word. They’re a computer security consulting firm with no expertise in war weaponry. Slándáil means security.
And the last outfit we should take recommendations from is a business with so much skin in the game, like Lockheed Martin, a US war aircraft and missile manufacturer. Disinterested advice? Of course not! Slándáil and Lockheed smell a virgin market.
What a ridiculous waste of money. Are there people specifically bred in captivity to come up with this nonsense. This nearly is as good as putting a bike lift on York Street in Cork so cyclists don’t have to push their bikes up the hill.
This defence forces plan is the one of the greatest loads of horse manure I’ve heard of in a while. After decades of neglect of the DF they now want to pump billions into it, makes no sense at all, like polishing a turd. Incredibly expensive fighter jets with eye watering maintenance bills and pilots with regular training bills for craft that will sit in a hangar in Baldonnell for years until obsolete. Like the voting machines except with wings. Getting them out for St Patricks Day or Easter for a flyby will cost tens of thousands while other folk can’t get mental health services, while other folk are on 2/3 year waiting list for a Eye, Nose and Throat specialist, while other folk still live in a single room in a BnB. This is nothing but a vanity project. Will the actual taxpayers who foot all the bills have any say in this. Will ministers be voting on this vanity project according to what the party whip says or to what is the democratic wish of the people/taxpayer?
Tell them:
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/
We are the weakest link in international security terms.
Do you think the Russians don’t know this?
We are a neutral country ,why invest in fighter jets.
Once again we bow down to the likes of EU. Macron pushing for his EU army.
This is just going to be left in some hanger, and taken out on special days for fly overs.
Think about all the serious maintenance costs that should be spent on all the HSE medical waiting lists etc.
The SAAB Gripn is the best fighter for the money with low maintenance costs and superb all round ability. Its also European made and can integrate seemlessly into EU military defences.
Great news we get out own top guns.
The SAAB Gripen is the best fighter for the money with low maintenance costs and superb all round ability. Its also European made and can integrate seemlessly into EU military defences.
Ordinarily I’d be up for improvements, but I don’t like to see Lockheed Martin pushing us towards creating a high maintenance army like a lot of other countries. We’re bad enough without spending half our taxes on that crap.
Drones would be a better investment.
@Rob Duggan: drones are great investment if you are planning to invade Northern Ireland or if you are expecting ground invasion from the UK. Otherwise a big NO. Ireland needs air space policing which requires super sonic planes not ground attack drones.
Iv heard it all now..must be a joke article
Waste of money.. The PC-9s are grand once they keep winding them up.
Knock airport can handle them, watch over the local fishermen with our navy.
have your say