Interesting articles

jonnybigwallet

It seems pretty illogical to me as well. Surely it would make more sense to acquire a similar number of basic jet aircraft such as the L39 NG ? Why a mixed fleet of prop driven basic trainers? Does the article indicate the number of airframes being acquired?

sparky42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119675570#Comment_119675570

Here we go:

Defence spending is to increase by 5.6 per cent over the coming year, a modest start to the Government’s plan to increase spending by 50 per cent by 2028.

The defence budget will be €1.17 billion in 2023, an extra €67 million on the last budget.

According to the Department of Defence, this will provide a financial platform to “initiate the required transformation” of the defence sector. The increase will insist in bringing Irish defence capabilities “closer to European norms, while also ensuring the ongoing Defence Forces’ capacity to deliver on all roles assigned by Government, both at home and overseas”.

Much of the extra funding will go towards an 35 per cent increase in the Defence Forces capital budget, bringing it to a record €176 million. This will fund some of the recommendations of the Commission on Defence Forces which reported in February that Ireland’s military is largely incapable of defending the country from outside attack.

Much of this will go towards defence initiatives that have already been announced. These include the purchase of two inshore patrol vessels from New Zealand and two maritime patrol aircraft to replace the Air Corps’ ageing Casa aircraft.

One new project, which was recommended by the commission, is the purchase of a primary radar system to detect airborne threats. It is understood about €15 million has been earmarked in the capital budget to begin exploratory research into the procurement of this system. The total cost of the radar system is expected to be well over €100 million over the course of the project.

Ireland is the only EU country not covered by a primary radar system, meaning aircraft are invisible if they do not have their navigation beacons turned on. Russian bombers have taken advantage of this in recent years by skirting western Irish airspace to test the reaction time of RAF jets.

There will also be extra funding for the creation of several new posts within the Defence Forces which were recommended by the commission, including a new head of transformation and a head of strategic human resources.

The Army is to get additional funding for the purchase of new types of armoured vehicles and the Air Corps will receiving funding for several small Piper training aircraft. There will also be funding for 13 building projects, including barrack refurbishments and the construction of gyms in military bases around the country.

An allocation of €542 million will go towards pay and allowances. This will include funding for the recruitment of 400 additional Defence Forces recruits. However, given the difficulty the military has faced in recruiting troops in recent years it is not clear whether this target can be met.

It is understood the increases in capital expenditure involved difficult conversations between the Department of Defence and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Officials said the increases were in line with those sought by the Defence Forces’ senior leadership and the intention is to increase defence spending by greater amounts over the coming years.

The funding increase received a lukewarm reception from the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco) which represents Defence Forces officers.

“Coming from such a low base any budgetary increase, no matter how small, is welcome,” said General Secretary Commandant Conor King. “However, the Defence Forces will never be an employer of choice unless it introduces urgent retention initiatives such as agreed implementation of the working time directive with necessary health and safety protections, and suitable pension provisions to cater for forced early retirement.”

Independent TD Cathal Berry, a former Army Ranger Wing commander, said the budget was lacking in ambition. “Ireland was defenceless yesterday and is defenceless today.” He said there is no hope of recruiting an additional 400 troops while existing numbers were still in “free fall”.

Larbre34

I see in coverage of the Justice budget, AGS have included a new surveillance plane in Capital spend.

The budgeted amount is €7m, which would be a lot for a new Defender.

roadmaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119676954#Comment_119676954

Will they go with a PC12 for common reasons so it will be less training for the air corps witha bigger pool to pull crew from or could we see GASU going private like IRCG

roadmaster

Well this was some tactical move

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2022/09/30/entire-class-of-naval-recruits-leaves-for-private-sector-as-retention-crisis-worsens/

sparky42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686587#Comment_119686587

Not surprising sadly given what Stryker can pay.

Larbre34

The entire process of recruitment and contractual service is going to have to change.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be much better remunerated at the same time, but really it should be five year stints for everyone, no buts no whys. Then it should be 2 year renewables.

The DF absolutely must have some certainty as to its manpower. If that cannot be achieved voluntarily, we are seriously in the realms of national service and long-term active reserve.

Signore Fancy Pants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119687661#Comment_119687661

For me it was 5, 4, then 12, then every 2 years.

Pay, conditions and job satisfaction are the core issues. Don't fix that, then everything else is pointless.

Having a system of a 5 year initial contract then 2 year renewable gives much less certainty to troops, and entirely unworkable.

Larbre34

I'm referring to those as mandatory minimums, no out before those terms expire.

When I did my postgrad in the public sector years ago, I owed them one year of service after, for every year they paid for. In my opinion that should be the condition of every profession and trade paid for by the State, with a mandate to complete the qualification.

What would you do to retain a class to get a return on the massive investment of training them?

Dohvolle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686694#Comment_119686694

Problem is they are as likely to be let go by Stryker in the morning if market decides and taken back on short term contract later on.

roadmaster

No more work placements outside the naval base!

Dohvolle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119688665#Comment_119688665

Once we got rid of the apprentice school, we lost control of where placements went.

Signore Fancy Pants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119688164#Comment_119688164

Its the same situation in the DF, financial undertakings, I did it myself. The DF fund XYZ, then you repay by serving time or buying yourself out. So, the private company paid DOD whatever was outstanding.

The problem for the DF is, the personnel have to want to be there, to eh, be there. Its not a 9-5 that you just mindlessly get up and go to every day. Personnel need to be motivated to stay.

Having a mandatory service contract is a bit more complex. The main thing you need is a deterrent to stop people going AWOL. We don't really use military prisons anymore. There's not much stopping people from going AWOL if mandatory time is brought in.

What would I do? Firstly, I'd understand their motivations for leaving. Then go from there.

Larbre34

Salaries 20 to 30 k higher in Stryker than they would have started on in the NS, once qualified.

Thats it, that's the motivation.

I really believe - and I've said it here before - that a key component of a solution to the retention crisis in the DF, would be to allow older people to sign up, those that may already have long term technical or leadership experience, that may already have a good living behind them and be interested in a military career for a spell of 5 or 10 years and to keep the connection as an active reservist thereafter.

Dohvolle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119693513#Comment_119693513

Re AWOL,

I know of a unit that kept a "kitty" to pay the fines of those private soldiers who inevitably reported AWOL because of financial reasons. Either they couldn't afford childcare while partner went to better paying civvy job and had to stay home or couldn't afford to fill the fuel tank for the daily commute. They were put on orders, fined, and fine paid from kitty.

Thats where we are currently. And have been for at least a decade now, since the last major "reorg" that saw units disbanded and people relocated to the other side of the region.

sparky42

A bit from the Business Post

The state will provide security and surveillance for privately owned sub-sea internet cables in Ireland following the suspected attack on the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline into Germany.

Ossian Smyth, Minister of State with responsibility for communications, said the Department of Environment, the Department of Defence and several private companies who own the cables met in the aftermath of the Nord Stream 1 leak two weeks ago. At the meeting, the government agreed to provide increased surveillance of their cables.

Smyth said that while the sub-sea internet cables were important, the protection of energy connections with Britian were a higher priority.

“The gas interconnectors are obviously the priority; electricity interconnectors are second and communications cables are last,” Smyth said. “But they are all critical infrastructure, whether they are privately owned or publicly owned.”

The Business Post understands that surveillance will be carried out on Ireland’s underwater energy and communications infrastructure through greater air patrols, naval patrols, and even the use of submersible drone technology.

It comes as the European Commission announced plans to increase the protection of undersea internet cables last Wednesday. “It is in the interest of all Europeans to better protect this critical infrastructure,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said.

Unveiling a five-point plan to protect critical infrastructure, Von der Leyen said the EU would increase satellite surveillance, and would help member states conduct stress tests on energy and communications offshore infrastructure.

Smyth said Ireland would take part in the stress testing of its sub-sea infrastructure.

“We will of course take part. Because we are an island, this concerns us more than most – it concerns us more than Austria, for example. All of our international connections are sub-sea, whereas there are other countries that have mostly overland connections,” he said.

“The kind of things you expect in a stress test would be scenario planning for if you lost a certain quantity of connectivity or sub-sea cables. It’s about testing in theory how resilient our networks are.”

As well as plans to stress test the physical security of infrastructure, the Business Post understands that a cyber attack-specific emergency exercise for Ireland’s key energy infrastructure will take place at the National Emergency Coordination Centre in November to prepare for any potential cyber attacks this winter.

https://www.businesspost.ie/politics/government-agrees-to-step-up-security-on-privately-owned-sub-sea-internet-cables/

Larbre34

Bullsh*t, we scarcely have the resources for 9-5 surveillance taskings and we DEFINITELY don't have the resources to cover the great distance of these cables or adequate sub-surface surveillance gear.

We should just stop lying to ourselves and everyone else and admit that NATO SSNs and ASW surface units are going to do this work.

roadmaster

Dont worry there will be a big press release next year when the two 295s go opertional and how they will sort the surveillance issue. Just dont ask what happens when one is in for service and the other is doing transport duties

sparky42

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119726764#Comment_119726764

Or their lack of detection equipment for anything underwater...

Larbre34

The 295s have some level of Bathymetric LIDAR, which can detect submarines and mines, depending on their configuration.

We'll never be told exactly what the power and resolution of the system is, but unless we had both aircraft flying 24/7 and Naval ASW assets to back them up then its kinda pointless.

Larbre34

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-63293582.amp

A serious enough situation for British and Western defence intelligence, you would think.

They should let it be known, that unless they desist completely and leave China if they are there in person, MI-6 are going to assassinate them.

roadmaster

Skip past the headline but in the story it appears Gormanston as a recruit training base is up and running

https://www.derrynow.com/news/crime---courts/954968/conditional-discharge-for-irish-army-bound-man-after-mad-night.html

Dohvolle

Not necessarily.

Either way, this individual may not enjoy recruit training as much as others. It isn't "boot camp" for young offenders.

Larbre34

Is what is described as '2-Star training' also basic training?

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837289#Comment_119837289

Yes. At the end of basic you are a 2 star private.

roadmaster

Jesus Eoin thats a bit Harsh

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/11/08/ireland-military-neutrality-russia-ocean-communication-energy-infrastructure-sabotage/

jonnybigwallet

He's right in what he says....

Larbre34

He's a right winger trying to make a name for himself. He's affiliated to Fine Gael's European Parliament grouping, but even Fine Gael often put the boot in on him for his lack of subjectivity and moderation as a commentator.

He is also writing for a US audience in this case, as a big fish in a small pond. He is largely right in what he says, but the tone is insulting to the ordinary members of the defence forces.

Dohvolle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119853894#Comment_119853894

If I walked up to you on the street and said to you "you are wearing no clothes" you have every right to be offended and embarrassed.

If however you were actually not wearing any clothes, is my statement to you an insult, or a statement of fact? It may have been the case that nobody else drew it to your attention, and those closest to you had convinced you that the latest new technology had designed fabric that appeared invisible only to those of lesser intellect, all so they didn't need to fund your wardrobe.

I see nothing in that article intended as an insult to the members of the defence forces. In fact, it reflects what they are all saying to each other behind closed doors. If anything, the author was being generous when he said we had no heavy tanks. We actually have no tanks at all, and if you don't consider the Scorpion CVR(T) a tank (many do not), then we have not had any tanks since we retired the Comet A34 in the early 1970s.

jonnybigwallet

The Scorpion is a good machine. But I thought they had been retired? Or are they just gathering dust in an auld shed in the Curragh?