[Article] Defence plans to sell off army surplus

Victor

I'm just wondering is there a risk of any of this ending up in the wrong hands? (Like old .303s that were sold to hunters in Canada ending up with Loyalists).

Defence plans to sell off army surplus

DON LAVERY
The Irish Independent
3-Aug-2003

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MEMBERS of the public could soon be able to buy surplus army tanks, armoured cars, trucks and other military equipment under a novel fund-raising plan.

The cash-stretched Department of Defence, which has funded a modernisation programme by cutting the size of the army and selling off barracks and land, is now looking at putting surplus equipment up for auction.

Modernising the army has meant buying hundreds of trucks and other transport vehicles, as well as a new armoured fleet.

As a result over 100 armoured vehicles, including 60 Panard M-3 armoured personnel carriers, 30 AML armoured cars, as well as Irish-produced Timoneys are surplus to requirements, as well as a large "soft-skinned" fleet of trucks, cars, and vans. Eventually, if they are not upgraded, the army's fleet of Scorpion tanks could also be sold off.

Sources said last year over 60 mostly driveable obsolete armoured vehicles were cut up for scrap by dealers paying €500-€1,000 each - while trucks and Mondeo staff cars about 10 years old were also being scrapped.

Obsolete military equipment sales are big business in the UK and on the Continent where hobbyists buy and restore the vehicles and sometimes use them in military "re-enactment" shows or acquire them for film or TV work.

Individual vehicles like the AML armoured car could make five times as much if sold to the public rather then being scrapped. The similar ex-British Army Ferret armoured car can make about €6,500 in the UK; while ex-Irish army Bedford trucks could make about €4,600 and Scorpion tanks could be sold from €20,000 each.

A Department of Defence spokesman confirmed that they were considering re-introducing auctions of military equipment.

Auctions, similar to the Garda vehicles auction, had been held up to about 10 years ago and were seen as a source of revenue for the department, he said.

Other discussion: http://www.irishmilitaryonline.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=1344

Sparks

Irish Independent, huh?
Well, I suppose it could be a sillier story...
Irish Army sells off spare Carravagio or something

Hairy Homer

From the Indo

As a result over 100 armoured vehicles, including 60 Panard M-3 armoured personnel carriers, 30 AML armoured cars, as well as Irish-produced Timoneys are surplus to requirements, as well as a large "soft-skinned" fleet of trucks, cars, and vans. Eventually, if they are not upgraded, the army's fleet of Scorpion tanks could also be sold off.

Would make for a DEADLY game of paintball!!!!!

I bagsy be INSIDE the Scorpion with a paint filled water cannon.

BKtje

paint filled water cannon, pffft

/me loads up another paint ball Shell to blow Hairy Homers water cannon Tank outta the err paintball park

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/1155132?view=Eircomnet

Fears that arms traders could conduct business from State
From:ireland.com
Thursday, 7th August, 2003

Ireland may unwittingly become a centre for the international arms trade, according to a new Government report.

UK-based arms brokers may decide to move here following a recent tightening of British legislation, potentially taking advantage of gaps in Irish export controls to set up arms deals between rogue states, according to the report, which was commissioned by the Tánaiste.

Because the brokers do not trade physical goods such as weapons, they do not fall within existing Irish legislation governing arms deals.

The report, Export Licensing for Military and Dual-Use Goods, also questions the Government's current policy statement on military exports which maintains that the Republic "is not a producer of arms in the normal sense".

This is "arguably an unnecessary and challengeable statement on a sensitive topic", according to the report. Irish exports of military goods may be small but they do exist, says the report, published yesterday by the Minister for Trade and Commerce, Mr Ahern.

Figures in the report show that the Republic exported more arms per capita than Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Finland and Greece between 2000 and 2001. Irish firms exported €34.4 million worth of arms in 2002 and a further €4.6 billion of dual-use goods (components used for military or civilian uses).

Dual-use goods include software, telecoms equipment and chemicals, while Irish military exports include suspension systems for tanks and army vehicles.

The report, prepared by the economic consultants Fitzpatrick Associates, was commissioned to identify gaps in Irish export controls. Work began on the project shortly after concerns were expressed by pressure groups, such as Amnesty, that many Irish-based firms were providing components to the US military and its nuclear industry.