Irish Army weapons

dreamers75 · 17-10-2009 9:14pm #1

Could someone inform me of the exact weapons our Army use. i know we have Steyr everything but do we use their sniper rifles, what are our AT(if any) equipped with.

Basically looking for army class and entire arsenal loads.

No point in googling as it says we have Steyr and uhh more steyr

Rob67 · 17-10-2009 10:05pm

We got small guns, big guns, some not so big guns and some not so small guns too. Hope it helps:D:D:D

Seriously though, look up the military.ie website, if its on there we can talk about it here, opsec and so on....

minidazzler · 17-10-2009 10:41pm

AFAIK this is all in the public domain so I guess I will list the Basics.

Steyr AUG.
FN MAG -General Purpose Machine Gun. (GPMG, American's use a version called the M240)
H&K USP Pistol. 9mm.
Carl Gustav 84mm recoiless rifle.
AT4 anti-tank rocket.
Browning HMG, .50 Cal.
Accuracy International sniper rifle. (AFAIK it's the Artic Warfare variant but I am not sure on that.)
Javelin missile system.
M203 underslung Grenade launcher.

That's the relatively small stuff.

We also have.

60 mm Mortar,
81 mm Mortar,
A helluva lot of "new to us" Ruag 120 mm Heavy Mortars. They are actually 20 years old but we got a great deal on them!!!
105 mm Light Gun. L118/L119 Variants.
Bofors EL70 AA gun.
A SAM system I don't know the name of.

What I miss from our Arsenel.

25 Pounder Field gun. Recently retired and I love it so much, first Gun I ever fired so it obviously holds a place in my heart:P.
.303 Bren Gun. What a dream to fire!!! It really is!!!
Browning Automatic Pistol, BAP, 9mm Pistol, I never got to fire it, which I regret!!!

The one's in Bold are the weapons I have fired. Will be doing the 120 mm Mortar next camp I think, and we might be getting some 84 mm rounds for the Carl Gustav next year, I hope!!!!

This is all in the Public domain, I just googled adn found it!!! I typed it all myself for nothing:(

http://military.ie/army/equipment/weapons/weapons.htm

http://military.ie/army/equipment/vehicles/vehicles.htm

I'm not gonna give the numbers of each of what we have as even though I am sure most of it is in the Public Domain, I don't know for 100% certainty and I don't want to have MM or Pocc have to Ban me:)

Local-womanizer · 18-10-2009 12:12am

Fire the Bren once for the last shoot.Amazing weapon to fire.Loved it.

pmg58 · 18-10-2009 2:08am

minidazzler wrote: »

Browning Automatic Pistol, BAP, 9mm Pistol, I never got to fire it, which I regret!!!

You didn't miss much, USP is a far better weapon.

You didn't list the hand grenade, but I'm not going to give the type because I haven't seen it in the public domain.

Also, the Army Ranger Wing have access to a much wider array of weaponry than the regular army, due to the nature of their job.

minidazzler · 18-10-2009 3:04am

pmg58 wrote: »

You didn't miss much, USP is a far better weapon.

You didn't list the hand grenade, but I'm not going to give the type because I haven't seen it in the public domain.

Also, the Army Ranger Wing have access to a much wider array of weaponry than the regular army, due to the nature of their job.

Yeah, I would assume as much, but still, just for the experience you know!!!

Manic Moran · 18-10-2009 4:48am

Browning Automatic Pistol, BAP, 9mm Pistol.

Part of the Irish Army's unique system of renaming weapons after the manufacturer as opposed to the model. Generally works out, though, as it is rare that the Irish Army every buys two products from the same manufacturer.

I believe the "BAP" was correctly known as the GP-35 MkII.

NTM

minidazzler · 18-10-2009 9:30am

Manic Moran wrote: »

Part of the Irish Army's unique system of renaming weapons after the manufacturer as opposed to the model. Generally works out, though, as it is rare that the Irish Army every buys two products from the same manufacturer.

I believe the "BAP" was correctly known as the GP-35 MkII.

NTM

Well, the GPMG is technically from a company we bought off before, but since it's a Machine Gun noone started calling it an FN. Imagine the Chaos.

"Pte. X go and draw an FN from Stores for cleaning."
*Pte. X Arrives with FN MAG."
"Not that one, the other one ya luder"
*Pte. X gets FN rifle and cleans it."
Next Day.
"Pte. X, Why have you not cleaned the FN?"
"I did, Sgt."
*Sgt. picks up GPMG, Does this look clean to you"
*Pte. X: Facepalm."

Manic Moran · 18-10-2009 12:34pm

True. There's always an exception. The AT-4s are in there too, I guess.

NTM

madmac187 · 18-10-2009 12:41pm

I think the chap is wondering what do they use over long distances to snipe at?

Well man they use the Accuracy International. Its a beast

15Gs to buy for domestic use in Wicklow. Only one I think for sale in the country .

Nuttzz · 18-10-2009 2:22pm

minidazzler wrote: »

A SAM system I don't know the name of.

Its the swedish rbs 70 system

newby.204 · 18-10-2009 10:24pm

madmac187 wrote: »

I think the chap is wondering what do they use over long distances to snipe at?

Well man they use the Accuracy International. Its a beast 15Gs to buy for domestic use in Wicklow. Only one I think for sale in the country .

There only 4-5000 euro and not that hard to get at all. And there are far more accurate weapons out there for the money but then your into how accurate is accurate and its enough for what the army use it for

m5ex9oqjawdg2i · 19-10-2009 1:05am

Forgetting about the ARW

I am not 100%, but was the BAP supposed to be replaced by the Sig Sauer?

ARW use the ARW along with some others I am unsure of.

Yea the bren is sweet to fire... I miss that one

kowloon · 19-10-2009 1:09am

newby.204 wrote: »

There only 4-5000 euro and not that hard to get at all. And there are far more accurate weapons out there for the money but then your into how accurate is accurate and its enough for what the army use it for

15 grand did seem a bit steep. How would they stack up against one of the Sako TRGs the shooting forum seem to hold so dear? They seem to be cheaper.

concussion · 19-10-2009 9:53am

dreamers75 wrote: »

No point in googling as it says we have Steyr and uhh more steyr

I found most of the weapons and equipment used by the Army on military.ie within 5 seconds. It's missing the RUAG 120 mm mortar and the HK USP

Manic Moran · 19-10-2009 12:11pm

I am not 100%, but was the BAP supposed to be replaced by the Sig Sauer?

It was one of the competitors, but the Army went with the H&K USP. ARW has a few SIGs in use though, I do believe.

NTM

diverdriver · 19-10-2009 12:39pm

I echo the comments on the Bren, my favourite machine gun, if you can have such a thing as a favourite machine gun. The Bren is universally popular with anyone who ever used it. Carrying it? Well that's another story!:D

In relation to the naming of weapons, the '84' was called thus because it was manufactured by Carl Gustav, which would have led to confusion with the other Gustav. Confusingly the British army also used the '84' but they called it the 'Carl Gustav'. Which could have led to some interesting confusion if the two armies ever had to cooperate.

As for the GPMG, when I was in, we FCAers referred to it as GPMG but the regulars called it the MAG and didn't know we were talking about the same thing. Obviously that's changed and it seems to be referred to by all as the GPMG. I was trained on it but somehow or other never got to fire it so can't compare it to the Bren.

minidazzler · 19-10-2009 12:55pm

diverdriver wrote: »

I echo the comments on the Bren, my favourite machine gun, if you can have such a thing as a favourite machine gun. The Bren is universally popular with anyone who ever used it. Carrying it? Well that's another story!:D

In relation to the naming of weapons, the '84' was called thus because it was manufactured by Carl Gustav, which would have led to confusion with the other Gustav. Confusingly the British army also used the '84' but they called it the 'Carl Gustav'. Which could have led to some interesting confusion if the two armies ever had to cooperate.

As for the GPMG, when I was in, we FCAers referred to it as GPMG but the regulars called it the MAG and didn't know we were talking about the same thing. Obviously that's changed and it seems to be referred to by all as the GPMG. I was trained on it but somehow or other never got to fire it so can't compare it to the Bren.

I concur with all of this.

The Thing is now with the AT-4's, when said out loud that sounds like "84" and it is also an 84 mm rocket so that I can see as being confuddling!!! lol.

I know a few PDF lads who refer to the GPMG as the MAG, but they would know it as both, it's just their personal preference to use the proper name.

On the GPMG and Bren, there is no competition really, the Bren is just so much cooler and more fun to fire IMO, I like the GPMG, but prefer the Bren because it is just a dream to fire. The GPMG is a better weapon as it is not limited to a 30 round Magazine. And in the General scheme of things 1000 belted GPMG rounds weigh alot less than 10 Mags of Bren and then the Loose Ammunition totalling 700 more, because the Bren Magazines are quite heavy in and of themselves.

As a recreational thing I would prefer a Bren, in a situation, I think I would prefer the GPMG.

newby.204 · 19-10-2009 2:08pm

kowloon wrote: »

15 grand did seem a bit steep. How would they stack up against one of the Sako TRGs the shooting forum seem to hold so dear? They seem to be cheaper.

I dont know, from what ive read the sako is a fine rifle for what your paying, Sako is an exceelent firearms maker, several countrues have the sako in service as their snipers rifle.

It wasn't me! · 19-10-2009 2:22pm

TRG is a lovely gun. Shot a few half inch groups at two hundred yards with one. No experience with the AI, but the stock looks a better job for prone shooting, the chassis is regularly used as an aftermarket upgrade, particularly for Remington stuff. The Sako has a better stock for position shooting, as it mimics a competition standard rifle stock. In terms of accuracy, either is probably just fine for what they're used for. Have the PDF made any moves towards standardising the AI Super Magnum over the AW in .338 Lapua Mag as a sniping tool, as the BA have done?

mcguiver · 24-10-2009 6:11pm

Back in my day the lads in the Digger had a few Accuracy International PMs, got to play with them overseas, great piece of kit....have they ever been rolled out to other units??