One of the Naval Service’s most modern ships has been forced to go on patrol without a functioning main weapons system at a time of heightened tensions in European Union waters.
The failing is due to a severe shortage of qualified naval ordnance technicians, which has left the service unable to maintain all its weapons. The ordnance section is down to a single technician following a mass exodus of highly trained staff over the last year.
The Defence Forces plan to hire private contractors, most of whom are likely to be former naval personnel, to carry out vital weapons maintenance, but sources say it will be months before they can take up this role.
This leaves the Defence Forces with two options: sending ships to sea without functioning weapons or further limiting the number of patrols it can carry out.
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There is currently only enough crew to take one ship to sea at a time to patrol Ireland’s vast economic zone. The lack of weapons technicians means even this limited rate of operations may soon have to be dialled back.
Currently the main armament of the LÉ George Bernard Shaw, an offshore patrol vessel that entered service in 2018, is non-functional. The 76mm deck cannon needs major repair work, which will require its removal from the ship.
Furthermore, the ship’s secondary weapons system, a Rheinmetall 20mm autocannon, failed to fire during a recent test shoot. This necessitated emergency repairs, with spare parts being brought to the ship while it was on patrol. The ship’s tertiary weapons, six mounted machine guns, remained functional.
The LÉ George Bernard Shaw was on patrol last month without a working main gun at the same time as Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieut Gen Sean Clancy said ships are not sent to sea without fully functioning weapons systems.
“Any ship that goes to sea will be operationally ready,” he told RTÉ's This Week programme. “That includes every element, its weapons and its hardware that is on board that ship.”
Lieut Gen Clancy, who will take up the role of chair of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC), the highest military body within the EU, was responding to an Irish Times report detailing shortages of trained naval weapons technicians.
The LÉ George Bernard Shaw is one of three ships in active service out of a fleet of eight. Just one ship is deployed at a time.
The decision to outsource weapons maintenance to the private sector may, according to sources, cost up to three times as much as operating an in-house maintenance service.
Sources said it will be around April before private contractors can take up the role. The Naval Service has already contracted other aspects of vital ship maintenance to a handful of Irish marine companies
The Irish Times has learned naval technicians formally raised concerns about the future of weapons systems last April, in a signed letter to senior officers. The letter stated the ordnance unit would soon become functionally non-operational, a prospect that has now become a reality.
Last month, the Naval Service went as far as asking the Army for help in maintaining their weapons. Army officers responded that they, too, could not spare any personnel.
The crisis comes at a time when naval recruitment is slightly increasing after years of steady decline. However, it will take many months to train up the technicians needed to maintain ships’ vital systems.
A Defence Forces spokesman said in response to queries that it “does not comment on the status of Naval Ordnance systems for operational security reasons”.
Meanwhile, Ireland is coming under increasing pressure from the UK and EU allies to improve the monitoring of its maritime area amid increased Russian covert activity.
Russia’s so called “shadow fleet” has been accused of severing several cables in EU waters in recent months. At the same time, there has been an increased presence of Russian naval vessels off the Irish coast.
Last November, the Irish Naval Service monitored the Yantar, a Russian spy ship, as it operated in the vicinity of cables in the Irish Sea. The Russian ship was spotted deploying several drones.
