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Irish Army Buys Israeli Drones
(Sunday Independent-Ireland) Mark O'Regan - A fleet of high-powered "spy drones" have been bought by the Irish Army from an Israeli defense company for 1.9M euros. The Defence Forces stress the primary objective is to provide the "greatest possible force protection" to Irish troops. They also emphasize that they tendered internationally to get the best possible deal. The Irish army's new fleet of covert technology will provide a valuable "over the hill" surveillance asset for troops on peacekeeping missions. The 336-member 109th Infantry Battalion of the Defence Forces is currently serving a six-month tour of duty in South Lebanon. Declan Power, a security analyst who has served overseas in the Irish Army, described as "facetious nonsense" suggestions that the purchase of arms from Israeli companies undermines Ireland's peacekeeping role in the Middle East. "The people who make those kinds of statements demonstrate their lack of knowledge about such matters. They are hugely politicized and know nothing about operational reality." "Israel is not North Korea; it is a democratically accountable state that is seen as a responsible vendor of these goods. We purchase equipment from the U.S. Are we supposed to down tools because some group of political extremists and malcontents have an issue with that?"