DF Commission Report

Excuse my ignorance...What is a 189?

Is it a chopper?

Excuse my ignorance...What is a 189

AW189 is the upgraded AW139.

Though in reality its the difference between the 5 seat Renault scenic, and the 7 seat scenic.

Better off doing it properly this time, go for EH101, and get extra EC135 for training & air Ambulance. If the lads in cork can do it with a light heli in the same range as the EC135, then the Air Corps could too. Also there is less chance of the skids getting bogged down in a field somewhere.

No more civvy helis painted green.

I'm not impressed at all with the lack of acceptance in the HLAP of the recommended C2 structure and force element parity (labelled as revert to Govt at later stage).

As someone who is a project and change manager by profession, I don't think you can agree civilian appointments immediately for Heads of Transformation and Strategic HR, without so much as a roadmap for achieving the key Chief of Defence, Deputy and Vice Chiefs and Heads of Service to enable operational reorganisation.

Failing to do so, sets up the kind of dysfunction that was seen in An Garda Siochána when the senior civilian administrators landed, without any reform of the Brass and it became a zero buy-in, adversarial environment.

This worries me quite a bit and makes all other physical equipment decisions fairly incidental.

PS - I see a footnote in the implementation table, that The Minister wishes to see these recommendations (collectively the above) implemented sooner. There must have been an almighty tussle at Cabinet or inter-department, if Coveney ended up forcing what amounts to a Minority Report, into the HLAP document.

Based on what was said in the Dail recently, Portlaoise is done. there are very few prisoners left in the High Security wing, and they no longer need the military level of protection that was required when the PIRA were breaking their folk out using armoured trucks and helicopters.

I'd say the rest would be reviewed periodically to determine if they are still justified, and that's a discussion I'd rather not touch with a 20 foot pole.

Face it though, ATCP was only ever there to fill out a poorly equipped unarmed police force. Garda ASUs can do most of the escorts the DF used to do in the past. Having worked on both Garda/Army checkpoints and Unarmed/Armed garda checkpoints the ASU are well capable of doing the task, and possibly better equipped in reality.

There was never a question but that the new C2 structure would need legislation, not just the Defence Acts, but in various finance and public service instruments too.

I don't see any good reason why the Govt with the Attorney General, shouldn't begin that drafting exercise forthwith. Its not like there are any constitutional limitations, thanks to Articles 13 and 15.

I agree about the ATCP. We can move well away now from the optics of The Troubles era of the Army escorting defendants into Green Street and minding cash consignments. We do have tactical Garda units well capable of the task and as can be seen on TV regularly, it is the unmarked SUVs of the Garda ERU that escort high security and gangland prisoners to Court these days.

There will of course be situations where Army assistance will need to continue, such as the movement of blank currency paper from the Airport to the Mint, potentially worth billions if compromised, where an Army convoy and two or three helicopters in escort is appropriate and that should be provided for.

Also and hopefully never to be employed, the Army is also trained in public order measures, in case of serious civil disorder and that insurance policy should be maintained.

A bare bones C-295 doesn't offer a solution for genuine tactical airlift. It is simply too small to deploy armoured vehicles alongside troops, which may be necessary to bolster peace enforcement missions in future.

While I wouldn't refuse a good condition C-295 for use in utility transport - and more particularly to perform air ambulance services within Europe and leave the new MPAs to their primary role - I think our best bet is to enter a shared tactical airlift agreement of the sort already seen in central and Eastern Europe.

For instance, the remaining neutrals within the EU, ourselves, Austria, Malta and Cyprus could easily put an A400M or two into joint service or tag on the existing or an improved Austrian C-130K fleet.

What is the scenario that requires an Irish airlifter to transport an Irish armoured vehicle?

One of the benefits of no military equipment industry pe se is we are in theory untied to any manufacturer etc. This should mean we can buy the best out there for our needs be it APCs, specific helis, etc. We can see the problems some of our neighbours have when they have to 'shop local' ... Also has been stated before, don't be the launch customer ... go tried and tested every time ...

The downside is though we have little to offer in terms of offsets, when purchasing major equipment. As a result we pay much more than others for the same product.

20 years ago we almost bought the S92 (dodged a bullet there, we would have been only mil customer of the type). Part of the deal was local aviation tech would get extra work from the Sikorsky parent in the US (United Tech). But eurocopter got wind of it and started screaming that they could have offerred a much better deal if they knew offsets were involved. Then before it all ended up in the ECJ, govt cancelled the contract, and we bought more Mowags with the allotted budget.

There might be, but all we have so far is the immediate action plan, which covers from July to December. So once we catch up with that particular can kicked down the road, we may have a clearer picture.

Pretty damning article in todays examiner.

Cormac O'Keeffe: The struggle between ambition and reality in the defence of the nation (irishexaminer.com)

I know where you are coming from, but the issue with 'offsets' is the promise of an offset could become the deciding (political) factor in equipment choice, with a sub optimal decision taken on this basis. Given our history has been largely piecemeal investment, with the odd purchase of a few dozen pieces of hardware we on balance have probably got lucky. However, if you go down the road of considerations wider than the efficacy, reliability, tactical suitability etc be careful because the political weighting will be skewed toward the local jobs / investment piece first and maybe only if you are lucky it will be the best equipment option for the DF ... That is my humble opinion only.