I’m not sure this statistic is one to brag about too much.

You really are a strange character, your existence seems to rely on denigrating everything and anything foreign, whilst cheer-leading every US military asset.

I’m just glad that the US doesn’t actually underestimate and sneer at overseas technology to the degree that you do, otherwise the USAF’s frontline fighter would be antique P-51 Mustangs.

A single Defender for Ireland’s relatively hugh coastline – no wonder the country has become so popular with the “cartels”:rolleyes:

And speaking of Qadaffi and Libya, I can remember as a boy growing up in Ireland in the 1980s, the Libyan arms shipments for the IRA – you couldn’t go for a walk on a coastal strand in the west of Ireland without tripping over an RPG-7…
I believe the only time an arms shipment from Libya to the IRA was ever detected and intercepted was of the coast of France by the French military…

If you go back to the 1970’s our spending on Defence as a proportion of GDP was actually higher than many NATO countries – the simple fact was that we could not afford to police our own borders.

And hey, we’re pretty much unable to pay for it these days as well 🙂

The failure to intercept more arms shipments from Libya was equally a failing of British/US intelligence, they had and have a vast and expensive agencies dedicated to these roles – when the UK/US passed intelligence on, the shipments were intercepted by the Irish Navy.

But hey, we’re dragging this off topic.

What are the Irish using for the maritime patrol of their waters while the CN235s are in Libya?
Ireland is something of an ‘entreport’ for narcotics to the UK is it not?

The operation is over now – the Casa’s are back and yes the Ireland has served/does serve as a landing point for drugs destined for the UK/Europe.

What the Air Corps used instead? Perhaps the Garda BN Defender was tasked with some coastal patrols, but that’s sheer guesswork.

It’s a fascinating state of affairs regarding Maritime Patrol, for a long time Ireland has leaned on the RAF for Nimrod support and now they’re gone. Personally I’d be more than willing to see future RAF/RN patrol assets use Irish bases for Atlantic policing, but politically it will probably never happen – likewise I think it would logistically make far more sense for the Irish army to be part of the UK EU Battle Group, but again… politically, blah.

J-10B prototype 1031

The B model looks quite beautiful really, the A always struck me as quite ungainly – but this seems so much more refined.

Congrats China – the rest of the world just got served.

Part of me feels like this bird must have been flying already months ago – such is the uncharacteristically cavalier way it’s been displayed to the world, but it doesn’t matter one way or another.

This is the ultimate expression of China’s modernisation – and the way it’s gone from paper nothing, to flight – with a minimum of nonsense and fuss, well – it’s a lesson to the rest of the world.

I believe there will be temporary setbacks going forward, but nothing can stop the march of Chinese industrial and technical might.

Undoubtedly certain folk here will poo-poo the ability of China to develop sensors and technology on a par with Western analogues – but, really they’re denying the inevitable march towards parity and.. beyond.

This is a rude awakening for every military program in the West, the delays, the corruption, the finger pointing towards one party or another, the political meandering to get X built in Y Country/State to satisfy voters in order that Z politician gets re-elected. In turn meaning the military goes without necessary equipment, costs skyrocket and when the damn thing is delivered, well, it’s been so delayed and forced so overbudget – it’s already outmoded and there’s no money left in the kitty to bring it up to date. So then mothball half the fleet and modernise the other half 20 years later.

I expect hundreds of stealth aircraft to be in the inventory of the Chinese Air Force by 2025. Minimum of fuss. It’ll just be done.

Congrats China.

Hint: Look at the cars in the background..

South Korean, I bet.

Agreed – lots of Hyundai’s and maybe my eyes are deceiving me – but is that an LG sign in the top right?

Tried to make sense of it, but haven’t.

Can anyone offer insight into how easily/quickly the systems developed for the MRA4 could be bundled into a new airframe? And is it a viable way of recouping at least some of the costs from the project?

Otherwise, maybe the UK Government would fancy swapping complete MRA4’s for some nice fuel efficient turboprops to bulk up the HMCG numbers.

I know some guys..

(seriously, scrapping MRA4 at his point strikes me as utterly bizarre)

Hey, interesting thread.

I’ve heard Belmullet/Valentia played a major role in determining the date of the D-Day landings when I was in school around 10+ years back.

But I’ve become rather skeptical of the claim in the intervening years.

With the vast shipping fleets and the huge aerial resources at the allies disposal, I think any role Ireland could have played in delivering weather information to the allies (especially in 1944) would have been quite superfluous.

I could be missing something – i.e. perhaps certain equipment available at these locations wasn’t easily adapted to maritime or aviation use.

Any opinions?