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.<\/p>\n
The project forms part of Government efforts in increase the State\u2019s \u201cmaritime domain awareness\u201d in response to increasing concerns about the vulnerability of subsea infrastructure, such as communications cables and energy connectors, to attack or sabotage.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Government announced a contract with the French company Thales to provide a sonar capacity for the Irish Naval Service<\/a> by 2027. This \u20ac50 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Sonobuoys, 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.<\/p>\n The devices can also be used for non-military maritime research.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Navy officers couldn\u2019t open fire when drones passed within 500m of ship during Zelenskiy visitOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n The sonobuoys will be deployed by the Defence Forces<\/a> in sensitive areas, such as around subsea cables and near planned offshore renewable infrastructure sites.<\/p>\n Along with the Naval Service<\/a>\u2019s new sonar technology, they will be able to detect suspicious or anomalous activity which may indicate an attempt to interfere with underwater infrastructure.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> in February 2022.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201c The Yantar is only the visible bit you see in public and it\u2019s not the bit that worries me the most. It\u2019s what\u2019s going on under the waves that most concerns me,\u201d the head of Britain\u2019s Royal Navy, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, said earlier this month.<\/p>\n