A vessel that regularly transports cargo from Aughinish Alumina, the Co Limerick industrial plant, to Russia was observed dropping its anchor near critical subsea cables off the Irish west coast last year after collecting a shipment from the plant. A month later it was boarded by German police and found to be missing its anchor … Read more
Last month, Irish soldiers assigned to the EU Battlegroup, which is designed to act as the bloc’s rapid response force, got an unwelcome surprise. Christmas pay packets would be smaller than expected, they were told. The problem was that, while on Battlegroup exercises in Hungary and Germany, they had mistakenly been paid a higher rate … Read more
Irish military flight operations are to move to part-time hours at the Air Corps headquarters and may soon have to cease entirely, according to senior military sources. The move will have huge implications for rescue, medical and policing services. As it stands, an acute shortage of trained air traffic controllers (ATCs) at the Air Corps’s … Read more
A Russian Navy intelligence-gathering ship is being tracked through Irish-controlled waters and is refusing to respond to communications from the Naval Service. The Viktor Leonov, a 100m vessel from the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet, was spotted by the Irish Naval Service earlier this week. It is being tracked by LÉ Samuel Beckett as it sails … Read more
Ireland can “no longer shy away from” defence, military and security capability and has to “get serious” about defending its “critical interests”, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. His remarks come amid the increased focus on defence within the EU and growing apprehension about the Trump administration’s attitude towards European security. The Defence Forces is currently … Read more
The Defence Forces has deployed an aircraft to monitor a vessel from Russia’s so called “shadow fleet” which has appeared in Irish-controlled waters. The military has designated the Metagas Everest tanker, which is also known as the Everest Energy, a “vessel of interest”. The Defence Forces had been observing its progress through international waters for … Read more
The Government has signed a deal worth almost €100 million for the purchase of four new military helicopters. The new Airbus H145m aircraft will replace and expand the Air Corps’ small fleet of light utility helicopters. The services’s two existing EC135 helicopters are approaching the end of their service life and are due to be … Read more