The Defence Forces has no rules of engagement for dealing with drones despite the threat they have posed for years and their rapidly growing use in hybrid attacks and incidents designed to cause embarrassment and disruption, especially by Russia.
The crew of the Naval Service’s LÉ William Butler Yeats sighted what they believed were drones in the skies over Dublin Bay on the night Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy landed at Dublin Airport. However, security sources said there was uncertainty on board about how to proceed as the personnel had no rules of engagement to follow.
This week, Minister for Defence Helen McEntee unveiled €1.7 billion Defence spending plan to the year 2030, including €19 million for anti-drone technology. Ms McEntee said the counter unmanned aerial system would identify and neutralise rogue drones. She added it would be in place before Ireland’s six-month presidency of the EU beginning next July.
Security sources point to a history of underinvestment and neglect, highlighting the absence of protocols for dealing with drones, which would need to be approved by the Minister.
RM Block
Neither the Department of Defence nor Defence Forces offered substantive responses to questions on the absence of drone-related rules of engagement, including whether they would be drawn up and approved by the department.
“For operational security reasons, neither the Department of Defence nor the Defence Forces discuss specific operational matters or publicly disclose specific rules of engagement,” the Department of Defence said.
Rules of engagement would set out the criteria for dealing with drones, including opening fire or taking any other adverse action. It was not clear if the absence of rules of engagement influenced the apparent slow sharing of intelligence about the incident, which was a significant security and safety alert for aircraft on the approach to Dublin Airport.
AirNav, which runs air traffic control across Irish airspace, including in and out of Dublin Airport, was never informed of the alleged drone activity, meaning it was unable to act.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that former minister for finance Paschal Donohoe vetoed proposals by the Department of Defence that Ireland should look at borrowing up to €100 million for military equipment under an EU initiative to provide long-term loans.
Official Government documents show that Department of Defence – then run by Tánaiste Simon Harris – believed in late August that there was agreement at ministerial adviser level for Ireland to formally express an interest in taking out such loans under an EU initiative known as Security Action for Europe (Safe).
However, the Department of Finance said its Minister, Mr Donohoe, had decided that Ireland should not apply for loans under the Safe initiative.
The Department of Defence in its business case to Government had suggested that any such loans, which would be repaid over a period of up to 45 years, could be used to replace the fleet of turbo prop trainer aircraft operated by the Air Corps or to provide new light tactical armoured vehicles for the Army.
The Department of Public Expenditure said it had been told by the Department of Defence several months earlier that Ireland would use only provisions in the EU Safe scheme to buy equipment in co-operation with other member states rather than avail of loans under the scheme.
The issue over whether or not to access the EU Safe loans came a number of months after a dispute between the Department of Defence and the Department of Public Expenditure over military spending under the revised National Development Plan.
The Irish Times reported in August that Mr Harris had sought funding of €3.4 billion for capital defence projects – double the amount announced by Ms McEntee this week.
