Ireland to deploy large numbers of undersea trackers to detect hostile submarines
Plans are under way to drop dozens of devices from military aircraft into the waters off the coast of Ireland to help detect Russian submarines.The project forms part of Government efforts in increase the State’s “maritime domain awareness” in response to increasing concerns about the vulnerability of subsea infrastructure, such as communications cables and energy connectors, to attack or sabotage.Earlier this year, the Government announced a contract with the French company Thales to provide a sonar capacity for the Irish Naval Service by 2027. This €50 million investment will, for the first time, allow Irish ships to detect underwater activity at long distances by towing a sonar device while on patrol.The next stage of the plan involves acquiring a large number of devices called sonobuoys. These are torpedo-shaped objects, about a metre long, which float on the water and use sonar to detect movement under the waves.READ MOREThe Late Late New Year Special: It’s a Paudie expanded universe, and we’re all just drifting through ‘But the weather!’: An Aussie voluntarily moving to Ireland seemed ludicrous to manyArchbishop Eamon Martin ‘saddened’ by online Christian commentators ‘armed for battle’ Steve Bannon promises ‘Irish Trump’ and says he is working to form ‘national party’ in IrelandSonobuoys, which have been in use since the second World War, are typically deployed from aircraft in large numbers to monitor specific maritime areas. They have a limited lifespan and require replacement every few years.The devices can also be used for non-military maritime research.They are widely used by European navies and have been known to wash up on Irish shores on occasion. Ireland has never itself deployed the technology.[ Navy officers couldn’t open fire when drones passed within 500m of ship during Zelenskiy visitOpens in new window ]The sonobuoys will be deployed by the Defence Forces in sensitive areas, such as around subsea cables and near planned offshore renewable infrastructure sites.Along with the Naval Service’s new sonar technology, they will be able to detect suspicious or anomalous activity which may indicate an attempt to interfere with underwater infrastructure.The technology is viewed as vital due to the increased presence of Russian military ships in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.This includes Russian intelligence-gathering surface vessels such as the Yantar, which has entered the Irish EEZ on several occasions in recent years. Security officials believe it is usually accompanied by a Russian submarine. It is also capable of deploying its own on-board submersible.“ The Yantar is only the visible bit you see in public and it’s not the bit that worries me the most. It’s what’s going on under the waves that most concerns me,” the head of Britain’s Royal Navy, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, said earlier this month.The sonobuoys will be dropped from the back of the Air Corps’ recently acquired C295 maritime patrol aircraft. Specially fitted equipment will be fitted to the rear doors of the aircraft to deploy the devices.Their signals, along with signals from the sonar array and surface radars, will feed into a national control centre. The aim is to build up a “recognised maritime picture”, showing all activity off Irish shores.“The sonobuoy project is part of a larger programme of work for subsea domain awareness, and this programme is currently under way,” a Department of Defence spokesman said.[ Drone sightings highlight worrying gaps in our national securityOpens in new window ]“Subsea domain awareness and in particular protecting subsea critical infrastructure requires a multifaceted approach, with different capabilities working in co-ordination to firstly detect an undersea threat, localise it, classify it and track it as it moves through the water.”He said the sonobuoy project is in the planning phase and market research is ongoing.“It will result in the Air Corps receiving a capability to detect, localise, identify, and track objects in the Irish EEZ.”
