Naval Service General Discussion - Fleet, Manpower, Policy

If you've time to kill, the Department have published submissions for the NMSS

https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-defence/campaigns/consultation-on-the-proposed-national-maritime-security-strategy/

In support of the UK-Ireland
2030 initiative, update Defence
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) between Ireland and UK,
including focus on a maritime
security element

In the timeline this to be complete for 2026 Q1 so i would say this will be updated in Cork next week with Starmer.

According to the IT article on the meeting on Friday the revised MoU is expected to be discussed:

Scope for deepened cooperation is also evident in the security sphere. Both islands share serious concerns about the vulnerability of strategic assets, notably the undersea cables that carry transatlantic data traffic and have attracted sustained Russian attention. Both share a common interest in the integrity of their airspace. A revised memorandum of understanding between London and Dublin on these matters, under negotiation for the past year, is expected to feature on tomorrow’s agenda.

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/editorials/2026/03/11/the-irish-times-view-on-the-ireland-uk-summit-an-ever-improving-relationship/

The amount of head exploding if that happened would be funny as feck.

Something like that:

The Government has signed an updated defence agreement with Britain designed to bolster maritime co-operation in tackling activity by the Russian “shadow fleet”.

The defence memorandum of understanding us due to be announced on the fringes of the United Kingdom-Ireland summit being held in Cork on Friday.

British prime minister Keir Starmer flew to Cork on Thursday where he was met by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, after first visiting Northern Ireland where he met the First and Deputy First Ministers.

It is understood that Minister for Defence Helen McEntee and UK defence secretary John Healey signed the defence memorandum earlier this week, which is an update to a 2015 agreement between the two countries.

The new deal, however, will focus particularly on maritime, cyber defence and security, information sharing and joint procurement initiatives.

The British Embassy in Dublin said the defence agreement would “bolster maritime co-operation in the face of threats from Russian shadow fleet vessels”.

Elements of the original deal which will be continued include staff exchanges, training and education, including civil and military personnel. The deal will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

McEntee said the agreement “respects fully the differing policy positions and security arrangements of both countries”.

https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2026/03/12/irish-british-defence-agreement-updated-to-boost-co-operation-tackle-russia-shadow-fleet/

WTF NOT!

of course there is another area for “joint procurement”, clocks ticking for the U.K. on the Type 31, the rumoured Swedish or Danish order hasn’t come through yet, and I doubt the Treasury wants to pay for a “batch 2” buy… Babcock has spent a fair bit on the yard and we know that Babcock have been trying to get us interested before…

I’m not saying it’s a high probability event, but they need some orders for that yard in the next 2 years at most.

Lads I wont make you mad and sad on a Friday with the rumour i was told in regards to the helos..

The DOD has done a deal to buy back the Alouette‘s….

But yeah go on, how far has the can been kicked and how much has the order been reduced?

It's somehow weirder..OK bucket of salt time chaps. I think most here have heard the inkling of a preferred 3 type helo fleet for the AC/IAF?…the H145M and 2 other types, well the desired type being pushed is *drum roll* the NH90.

The AC likes what they've seen of it, had close looks at them from the Dutch etc. If the 3 type fleet is approved it's the 145M, H175M/AW149M and a small fleet of naval NH90's…if it's a 2 type fleet it's the 145M and the NH90 in larger numbers..

Please don't shout at me.

very on brand for the AC, I mean it’s not like we haven’t screwed ourselves before… If it was just NH90s I wonder will we go all out and go with the new variant the French are putting into service, just to make sure we have headaches.

As I’ve said before, some of the users seem to have managed their fleets better than others, is that down to what the spec Ed or the support packages?

I’m not a fan of the 3 fleet option tbh, a few orphan “Navy” helicopters is always going to be more vulnerable to issues from the AC compared to a widespread 2 fleet option.

Now the question is, if we are actually looking at maritime Helios, has anyone pointed out that we might need a ship to support them as well?

And I was only joking about getting some NH90s to go with our FDI frigates….