Fighter jets for the Air Corps?

That's a very good point about having to build up know how first before jumping into an advanced Gen 4 or 5 aircraft. I think buy half a dozen L139 NG first as a lift plane which can be retained in this role ongoing even after purchasing either Gripen or KAI for air policing. Damn useful for ceremonial duties and for formation training etc. The Breitliing display team use them.

To be fair I’m still calling BS on the PC9s being replaced in the next 5 years, at the rate our procurement goes we would have to start this year at even talking about thinking about maybe going for an RFI let alone a tender. That’s not even counting the lifespan left on the planes.

If the replacement project starts by 2030 let alone physical hardware.

The question is part political, part economical and part historical (sometimes hysterical).

There are those who wish Ireland to remain a neutral state. Easily done 80 years ago but maybe not so in this modern interconnected world that we live in that has Russian strategic bombers probing the Atlantic seaboard. Some might say they are testing the RAF but they do so with transponders off and are therefore a threat to civil traffic passing through Irish air space.

If European countries of similar size (both in population and economy) to Ireland can have a fast jet air force to protect their skies then why not Ireland? An update of the radar system is welcomed but that will only show the presence of aggressors, it doesn't defend against them. Air defence is not only aircraft but a fully integrated system with radar and SAMs.

Since independence, Ireland has always had a somewhat makeshift armed force with castoffs from here and there, mostly the UK. The Air Corps is just that and not a "Force". More of a transport corps. The "navy" is no more than an armed coast guard. Does Ireland have an army if it doesn't have main battle tanks and artillery? With Twitter bleating #UnitedIreland every other week, I wonder how our army could cope with a "Troubles" style conflict that gave a then much larger Cold War British Army a hard time.

For Ireland to have credible armed forces would probably mean integration within NATO. As with Finland's accession, the US could then set up forward bases here with air defence and a ground force presence. It would probably be a lot cheaper than upgrading and remaining neutral.

Talking of making things cheaper, if we don't currently have credible (expensive) armed forces nor a national health service, where exactly do our high taxes go?

The question of whether remaining a credible neutral State in the Western Hemisphere is possible, without a robust defence force to assert it, has been settled.

Being a member of NATO does not equal contributing military personnel. You probably already know this, of course. 🙄

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_162083.htm

First flew 60 years ago. About to retire from Active use by Sweden to be replaced with Grob G120TP.

Thanks but no.

What I make of Ireland's neutrality is irrelevant right now, this is the thread about fighter jet acquisition.

You have made a comparison between the defence policies of Ireland and Iceland, as if they are comparable, when that is obviously not the case.

Our military non-alignment and Iceland's NATO founding partner status, hosting all manner of Alliance military assets could scarcely be more different.

Are you advocating for Ireland to change to a position similar to Iceland's?

We never had such ability to monitor or control our environment at any stage, that’s just fantasy, as for our defence position, we tried blagging a deal with the US when we refused NATO,mbut they weren’t going to waste their time.

It was an Irish answer to the problem to say we could do something while letting the U.K. handle things, it was never a capable force that would have had any impact on a situation, to put it in context it’s like saying the two CASAs give us full surveillance now. The bulk of the Ansons were retired in 1947, leaving 3 to serve into the 60s, with nothing more than the crews eyeballs for observation, maybe they can see underwater? Or be able to cover all our coasts? Our Corvettes were barely capable in the 40s, after that the idea they were anything capable is laughable with fishing boats being able to outrun them, and then they were replaced by ships of even less capability.

We have never have had the ability to “counter threats” at any point, with neither trained personnel or equipment capable of performing such roles, because neither the Irish public or politicians willing to make the investment needed.

Interesting article and video....https://defensebridge.com/article/introducing-the-l-39ng-jet-trainer-the-future-of-military-aviation.html

Jonny i bet you have shares in Aero Vodochody