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SPEAK TO IRISH national security sources for any length of time and the subject of a gaping hole in Ireland’s air defences will start to fill the grumbling discontent of the conversation.
Not alone is the Irish Air Corps without an aircraft to respond to almost all incoming suspicious and threatening aircraft, but the State is also completely blind to know what is out there because of a complete lack of primary military radar.
Commercial aircraft use transponders which transmit their altitude, identity and other information to Air Traffic Control but without that signal from the individual aircraft there to track what is flying in Irish controlled airspace.
That gap, those sources have said for many years now, is filled by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other countries which Ireland depends on to respond to flights.
Ireland’s airspace is vast – it is roughly six times the size of Ireland’s sovereign land mass, according to a briefing document on the subject.
There are 1.2 million flights passing over our heads on an annual basis which is 80% of all transatlantic traffic.
Russians bombers have flown down the west coast disrupting civilian traffic – the most recent was in March 2020 when they were monitored by the RAF twice in a week. Malfunctioning aircraft as well as pilots who forgot to turn on a transponder have all caused a response but it wasn’t the Irish military responding.
Caused a ripple
That issue has caused a ripple through the political ranks this week. Opposition TDs have demanded an answer from Tánasite Micheál Martin and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Those calls were not asking why Ireland does not have an air defence capability but why it has a supposed secret deal with the RAF to police Irish skies.
This week Martin, who is Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs, denied that Ireland relies on the agreement with the British and claimed reporting was inaccurate. He refused to explain further citing a policy to not comment on national security issues.
Varadkar, said in the Dáil that Ireland does depend on international partners to assist in national security measures.
Senator Gerard Craughwell has issued proceedings in the High Court to determine if the deal exists. That is yet to come to hearing.
Whether Ireland has a secret deal or not can only be determined by the search of a locked safe in a Government department, but here at The Journal we wanted to take a look at how the system works.
It is not unusual for a suspicious aircraft to enter Irish airspace – sources within the civil aviation governance sector and in the military have said usually it is an aircraft with a malfunctioning or accidentally turned off transponder.
An Air Traffic Control source said a radio call usually solves the problem and need for fighter aircraft to respond is stood down. However when there is no communication fighters are sent up to check on the crew.
The other type is a military aircraft, usually Russian Bear bombers, come out of their bases in Russia and make a run down the Western seaboard of Europe. On a few occasions those aircraft have skirted close to Irish airspace.
As one security source described the Russian strategy: “It is diplomacy through other means – it is a strategic message and that is similar to how the Russians used their naval vessels to intimidate Ireland and the EU shortly before war broke out in Ukraine by conducting naval exercises off the Irish coast.”
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks the security needs around air travel changed dramatically – the threat to Britain from rogue hi-jacked civilian jet liners was a major concern.
It saw nations such as the UK and the RAF bolster their air defences to deal with the new threat – Ireland stood still and spent nothing to ensure its air defences and instead, according to sources, doubled down on a deal it had with the British Government.
The Royal Air Force
The RAF, as recently as 2 May, responded to an alert off the coast of Scotland as Russian aircraft appeared.
While there was no immediate risk of armed engagement the British pilots scrambled Typhoon fighter jets from a base in Scotland and backed them up with early warning radar aircraft and a tanker to keep them flying.
A spokesperson for the RAF outlined how their system works.
“The primary role of the Royal Air Force is to defend the UK and when necessary, UK interests overseas.
“Quick Reaction Alert QRA is a routine part of the RAF’s air defence role to protect UK airspace.
“The RAF’s (QRA) aircraft are held at immediate readiness to protect the United Kingdom and can take off within minutes. QRA are launched to intercept unidentified aircraft because the aircraft cannot be identified by any other means. i.e. the aircraft is not talking to civilian or military Air Traffic Control, has not filed a flight plan and / or is not transmitting a recognisable secondary surveillance radar code.
“The paramount duty of the RAF is to control the air over the UK and, when necessary, UK interests overseas,” the spokesperson said.
It is a complex system but the RAF spokesperson is keen to stress that it was developed during World War Two and the Battle of Britain.
“In the UK, under the direction of our Air Battlespace Controllers at RAF Boulmer in Northumberland our fighters can be scrambled to intercept, identify and, if required, intervene aircraft approaching our shores,” he said.
Sources have said the word “intervene” is a euphemism for forcing the aircraft to leave airspace, land or in the worst case shoot it down if it poses an immediate threat to people on the ground and other aircraft.
Those security sources have said that the initial sighting of military aircraft is normally informed to Irish authorities by British Air Traffic Control contacting their opposite number in the Irish Aviation Authority.
Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, responding to a question from The Journal this week, denied there was a mechanism whereby he is informed of an incident.
The concern among security sources is around how a shootdown order would be communicated to the RAF pilot. A number of senior military sources said this would likely be a decision left to London given that the pilot is British.
The RAF spokesperson said that this response service is on duty twenty four hours a day and through the week.
The air force maintain this in the UK and in the Falklands, which is also known as the Malvinas in Argentina.
The system uses the multi-role Typhoon squadrons based at RAF Coningsby on the west coast of England and at RAF Lossiemouth in northern Scotland. They are then supported by Voyager Air-to-Air refuelling aircraft from RAF Brize Norton near London.
The RAF do not just provide cover for their own territories but also in Cyprus, reaching across the Middle East in Operation Shader and in Estonia as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission.
Since 2019 the RAF has conducted a NATO Air policing deployment to Lithuania in 2020 and then in 2021 and last year to Romania.
The Irish Air Corps
Kevin Phipps is a retired Irish Air Corps captain and pilot – he said that Ireland does have a limited capability to respond to slow moving aircraft.
The PC9 training aircraft is often seen over State events doing ceremonial fly pasts but it has also a capability to be armed. On one occasion, during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II, it intercepted a wayward aircraft.
“Regarding the capabilities of the Irish Air Corps in comparison based on my experience having spend my last 5 years in service as a flying instructor on the PC9 and as a qualified Pilot in Air Intercept tactics.
“The Air Corps are capable of conducting pre planned Air Patrol operations which are effective at intercepting slow moving aircraft such as a Cessna or a helicopter travelling at slow speed and at low altitude. This was seen during the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ireland in 2011.
“The Air Corps utilise the Pilatus Pc9 which is primarily a propellor driven training aircraft but has been fitted with Heavy machine guns and advanced heads up display to enable it to intercept and potentially shoot down a target in the air,” he said.
Phipps said that the PC 9 is not comparable to the RAF Typhoon which is a supersonic full spectrum 4th generation war fighting aircraft.
The former Air Corps pilot said a key issue for Irish Air Defence is the lack of a so-called “recognised air picture”. This is information gathered across a primary radar system and satellite that builds up a detailed read out of every aircraft in the airspace – including those without transponders.
This was a key recommendation in the Commission on the Defence Forces report which looked at Ireland’s below standard defence apparatus.
“We have no visibility bar what we gather from the civilian surveillance radar system primarily based around aircraft transponders and satellite surveillance systems,” he said.
Phipps said that even if Ireland gets that radar system there will still be a need to ask “partner nations” to respond because the Irish military do not have the aircraft to carry out the role.
“In my opinion it’s clearly a Government policy decision not to invest in an air policing capability which is not a war fighting capability but rather enhances air safety given the volume of overflight traffic that is controlled in Irish Airspace.
“This would be the norm in other Neutral European countries like Austria and Switzerland,” he said.
‘Not a light switch capability’
Phipps said 2021 costings he has seen for such a fleet of aircraft, a squadron of between eight to ten fighter jets with the primary radar system, would be in the region of US$360 million, (€329.5m) with an annual running cost of US$20m (€18m).
“This capability investment is all consistent with the report of the commission on the defence forces.
“This is also not a light switch capability and will require many years to reach full operating capability. In the interim we will still need to cooperate with another partner to respond to any detected threat,” he added.
Sources have mooted that Irish Air Corps top brash would consider the most likely aircraft model for Ireland to be the Swedish Saab Grippen aircraft. They would cost an estimated €58m each but that comes with a manufacturer maintenance programme.
In briefing documents seen by The Journal, the cheapest running cost would be for eight aircraft at €18m while a full air policing system would be €166m annually.
Ireland has had jet fighter capability in the past with the Fouga Magister CM-170 and before that the De Havilland Vampires but then Irish defence focus shifted to a training only air role and the most recent fighter style aircraft were the PC-9 propeller aircraft.
Those briefing documents outline a suggestion that any air policing role is an Aid to the Civil Power scenario, meaning the military budget could be supported by an allocation in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
The document also outlines that, as air policing benefits the airlines overflying Ireland, that the aviation regulator here could put a levy on those carriers to fund it.
Military sources have said they are growing in frustration with the Department of Defence’s explanation that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is causing delays in progressing the Action Plan, which was developed to bring about the required resourcing for a primary radar system.
Regardless of those internal squabbles, the idea of equipping the Irish Air Corps with the fighter jets to do the air policing job has been put on the long finger.
The Commission on the Defence Forces was structured around levels of ambition – the air policing role was pushed back to the most ambitious level, particularly because of the need for a radar system first. That was despite much discussions by members who wanted to move it forward.
Regardless of those machinations and the gnashing of teeth over the supposed deal with the British, all that will become redundant fallacy if Ireland’s military security apparatus is found wanting when a critical incident arises.
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Just another government shambles, but as they say, we will learn from this.
@John O Mahony: and hopefully not the hard way.
@John O Mahony: Do you Really think so? Yes when the Russian forces have decided a walkover of this country. A strategic target to begin the cakewalk of Europe. It is then we will see the people climbing back to their hovels with their tails between their legs, after hastily taking down the Ukrainian flags that are dotted around the country. Can you see Ukraine or any other countries hoisting The Tricolour if we were invaded. History has dictated that this will never happen. So why not mind our own business.
Ireland is the gaping hole in EU security. If it weren’t for the fact of the RAF and RN (we have no capability in our own economic zone should cables be interfered with), we would be s c r e w e d. And given Brexit we, an EU nation, have to rely on a third country for defence. An absolute shambles of successive governments have seen the DF weakened.
But sure, aren’t we neutral. Tell that to the Chinese and Russians, and any other would be aggressor. We are like the wimpy kid in the playground, always at risk to a bullies whims.
@AnthonyK: we’ve only ever had one government
@AnthonyK: I see your point but in regards a military it would take billions and billions to build up a military that would still be wiped out in a matter of days against a country like Russia. As regards NATO would they even take us?
@Paddy Ryan: further on that, is it exactly because we are the gaping hole in the EUs defence that we don’t have to spend enormous amounts of money on defence. They will be forced to defend us. A small country like Ireland needs to box clever. Maybe I’m completely wrong but Just a thought.
@James Delaney: The current government is, in fact, the thirty third Dáil Éireann.
@Paddy Ryan: Precisely!
This is what happens when you elect people who are not patriots. They leave the country defenceless.
@Brian Boru: The country is defenceless anyway and spending 58 million would just tell us we are all going to die>
It is outrageous that in this day and age we have absolutely no capability to monitor our territory, not to mention have any chance of knowing what’s coming at us. Neutral or not, that’s the least we should be able to do. It is time this was remedied, there are billions coming our way in corporate taxes, let’s use that rather than “eaten bread soon forgotten “ stuff.
@Mary Conneely: Primary radar doesn’t let you know what’s coming at us. It lets you know something’s there. It’s just a signal return off an object that is tracked. Secondary radar with transponders let’s you know what’s coming…… The radar is irrelevant in defense terms if you don’t have anything to catch up with the intruder to identify it. A PC9 won’t catch up with any jet. The IAA have primary radar AFAIK. The extent of which is not known as they don’t have it published on their website.
@Colm Kane: A huge waste of money in this day and age given our size, location and given the capabilities of any nation that would be an aggressor. Spend the money on patrol boats/search and rescue.
True neutrality isn’t cheap folks. Time to pony up.
@honey badger: we’re not neutral
Keep chipping away all you like, but no to Nato
@Duffy #35: they wouldn’t invite us unless our spend drastically increases, which no government will agree to. Currently spend just over 0.2% of GDP on defence, which would need to be increased to a minimum of 2%. I have seen no pressure whatsoever for us to join NATO.
@Duffy #35: We already have NATO de facto protecting our sea and skies. You can say NO all you like but would it not be better if we coughed up for our own equipment to defend ourselves?
Instead of saying “No to Nato” while happily letting them protect us. on their terms?
@goldiefish72: Their terms, they sound great they do the work, we dont pay for it and we are covered!
So, the cost of such a defence capability would be in excess of 300 Million Euro.
A quick cost benefit analysis might be in order. How much damage to the country has been done by not having such a defence capability? The answer is: none at all.
There are better uses for that 300 million Euro.
@Nestor: really? And you know this how?
Hmmm – “Ireland’s air policing security failure and how the British system keeps their skies safe”. Well I think we all know how Britain keeps their skies safe, they have the RAF. The headline should read, Ireland’s air policing security failure and how the British system keeps OUR/IRISH skies safe, unless of course the author is English and given his name, I doubt it.
@Ann Reddin: Thats all you took from the article? The Author is Irish!!
The headline is correct. The RAF patrol our skies to keep their skies safe. Because we can’t do it. Normal countries would protect their own skies, escort aircraft of interest through safely, then handover to the neighbouring Air Force who escorts it through their own skies.. Thats how Neutral Austria and Switzerland does it.
Maybe try reading beyond the headline before commenting?
Why would anyone go so far out of their way to attack/invad us? We don’t have anything that anybody wants.
@brian o’leary: Why would anyone attack/invade us? Because, given our geographical location, we are strategically important. If. let’s say, Russia decided to invade us tomorrow, that has Europe flanked on two sides, by Russia, Next stop if you head west is the US, and next stop to the east is Britain. So a great location if you want to start launching missiles or send war planes to either of those two “super powers”.
@Ann Reddin: You watched an old James Bond movie last night, didn’t you Ann?
@Ann Reddin: There’s no way Russia would be able to sustain supply lines from Russia to Ireland should they occupy us.
@David Corrigan: I wouldn’t watch a James Bond film if it was the only film ever made. Brian asked a question and I answered it. And if we weren’t that strategically important, then why are Russian u-boats constantly in our territorial waters.
@Ann Reddin: Russia or any other country for that matter has any interest whatsoever in Ireland Ann. The only reason anyone bothers with us is because we are a tax haven for multinationals. I think you can rest easy.
@Steve: it would all depend on how its viewed internationally. would any country care enough to implement a naval blockade. if not then russia could easily maintain an occupation force. plus russia gains the entire irish population as hostages to any foreign intervention.
@Ann Reddin: becase they are trying to get at the Royal Navy. We just happen to be in the way!
@brian o’leary: aside from the first airport that American reinforcements can fly to in Europe, and as Im sure you already know, quite often do so, using it as a refuelling stop. And enemy fighters based in Shannon can therefore intercept all American flights well to the west. Meaning US carriers would have to deploy to protect military transport, both air and sea. Or of course the deep water ports on the west coastfron Donegal to Bantry, ideal for submarine bases that have plenty of opportunity to annihilate shipping from iceland to Spain
@brian o’leary: Yes they do want something from us “Neutrality” which means minding our own business. The present regime in Dublin is making this very difficult. I spoke to a Ukrainian last week. He said that Ukraine and Russia are as bad as each other. When I see a Ukrainian flags floating from houses around the country I think how gullible we are. How much do we really know about the facts for a start. In fact we are leaving ourselves very open to invasion. This much I do know.
Ukraine shows us that manpads and javelins are the way to go. Adopt to guerrilla tactics instead of a standing army that could be wiped out in a day..
@Bart Teeling: what you do not realised is that the Irish defence forces are classed as one of the best trained gorilla warfare armies in the world as everyone in the army is crossed trained in all weapons among a lot of other things
@Pól Ó Broin: Nonsense. Pub talk.
@Pól Ó Broin: Where in the world then have they carried out all this so called gorilla warfare, just name the locations and when.
@Bart Teeling: problem is the day of the flying column is gone. with drone surveillance, attack aircraft and thermal and night vision equipment a column of irregulars moving by foot that wasnt in heavy cover would be screwed
@goldiefish72: Fact, that is the way they have always been trained. My dad had his orders during the Emergency. Two dofferent sets, one if it was the Germans the other if it was the British. It was all gureilla tactics, hit and run, goes back to the war of independence and before.
@Rian Lynch: As shown elsewhere that is not quiet true. A small well trained force can inflict serious damage. For all the tech there is there is tech to block it.
@Pól Ó Broin: Help.
So our skys are full of unidentified flying objects…
We don’t have the population of a large city in the whole of Ireland.Lets not lose the run of ourselves.Opposition TD’S jumping up and down.Who did the think was protecting our skies,Eddie Rockets!
@Paddy Ryan – Ukraine proves the point that a well-trained army ie a NATO well trained army is a match for the Russians.
We could do deals with French, and Spanish forces, even have, as part of a wider EU army, their forces based in Ireland alongside our own.
Who was it again that invaded our shores last?
What happens if societal changes/breakdowns mean once again that it’s not the Russians we need to worry about.
Found money to beef up tds security, but no the country’s. Shameful greed. A case of screw you jack,I’m alright.
“Don’t squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar. These are sickly aims, the false ideals of our age’.
WILDE
Of the 3 neutral countries listed in this article Ireland, Austria and Switzerland, Austria has Eurofighters and Switzerland has F-18 Hornets, Ireland is the only one without any jets. Just because we are neutral that does not mean we don’t need a proper air force and well equipped Defence force. Other countries that are neutral have large defence forces to protect their neutrality.
Ireland is an embarrassment when it comes to our own Defence.
Shambles
If our politicians stop sticking their noses in were it doesn’t belong then we’ve nothing to fear from anyone…the only two country’s that could realistically is the uk and the US….every other scenario is just fear mongering nonsense…
What a joke of a country, flying WW2 aircraft, can only intercept slow moving aircraft that moves at snail pace, they should let the RAF patrol Irish airspace, other wise if left to Paddies, forget it. Like underground Metro a pipe dream that will new be done
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