Navy officers couldn’t open fire when drones passed within 500m of ship during Zelenskiy visit

by Faithful-Llama-2210

27 comments

  1. “Rogue drones launched as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy was arriving in Ireland came as close as 500m to an Irish naval vessel, it has emerged.

    However, the officers of LÉ William Butler Yeats felt that due to the rules of engagement in place at the time, and the presence of civilian aircraft in the skies above, they could not open fire, sources said.”

    “The Yeats, which arrived back in port in Haulbowline, Co Cork, on Monday, was “entirely capable” of shooting down the drones, said one naval source, and had carried out air defence exercises a few nights before Mr Zelenskiy’s visit.

    “It has also practised shooting down target drones in the past, sources said. However, it lacks an air search radar and electronic jamming equipment, meaning it is almost entirely reliant on the marksmanship of the crew.”

  2. It’s grand, nothing to worry about, right folks? Sure there is no reasoning to invest in our defence capabilities, right?

  7. Very misleading headline, couldn’t and wouldn’t are very different reasons for why they shit the bed on this one.

  9. We are sitting ducks in this country. The government has neglected our defenses for years thinking that the USA would have our backs.

  11. And that’s the most heavily armed one we have.

  12. Would like to see the footage they refer to There have been lots of false positives in relation to drones over the last two years that are usually misidentified aircraft, stars, reflections, etc. Would need clear skies to engage with cannon fire, so not really feasible.

  14. Yet another thread that makes me glad that redditors aren’t actually in charge of anything

  15. Personally think this is considerably less likely to be some Russian operation and considerably more likely to be a ploy to increase our militarization and the people in the comments talking about Russian Shadow Fleets are cosplayers.

  16. Get a few shotguns, baton rounds would that maybe be effective ?

  17. I see all the former virologists coming out as military experts now…

  18. Bring back archery and crossbows on the high seas, that might actually bring down the drones for very little cost, also good exercise.

  19. Offer free archery/crossbow lessons for coastal civillians, if the drone bot fleets arrive en masse, it’s fun times at the beach.

  20. Everyone here showing that they didn’t read the article. It clearly says that the ship had the ability to shoot down the drones, but that its rules of engagement didn’t allow it to.

  21. At 500m and closer the ships large gun didn’t have to be used.
    A .308 or 5.56 standard NATO round used in a Steyr (Irish army’s main rifle) could have been used with minimal if any risk to the public or other a/c.

    No one had the balls to give the go ahead to fire on them, that’s the brutal honest truth.

    Defence force my arse.

  22. Couldn’t because it puts at risk all the civilian air traffic passing overhead, they have the armament on board to engage the drones but just couldn’t in this scenario because of the safety factors.

  24. Always ask ‘Cui Bono?’ – Who Benefits? – when reading stories like this.

    Who the fuck stands to benefit most from these drone stories?

    A couple of arseholes with cheap drones, giving the miltiary/arms industry the best PR they’ve ever gotten here.

  25. It was clearly the right decision, given that nothing happened. Firing on drones and potentially starting a war doesn’t seem like it would have been a good idea.

  26. Should have opened fire and destroyed those Russian drones.

    Russia was violating our airspace.

  27. Most of the ships cant put to sea because theres a massive shortage of crew, a problem that is a crisis across the defence forces. Underpaid with poor conditions, something a rightwing govt will never fix because – public sector bad ….
    Still, we keep getting these bullshit stories from the Indo, or the West Brits in the IT, telling us need to buy some new militart gadget. And the wannabee blueshirts of r-ireland love this drivel.
    Christ, if the Irish Right were s intelligent as they are selfish, Id actually be worried.
    If yhe

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