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Irish Air Corps / What should the Major Air Corps Roles Be?
« on: August 02, 2007, 08:28:53 pm »| Quote (FiannaFail @ 01 Aug. 2007,22:52) |
| In light of recent comments on other threads I would be interested in hearing all your views on what you think should be the major roles of the Air Corps. I get the sense that some of you feel we shouldn't have the Air Corps and perhaps leave it to the RAF,USAF or even the French to look after us. If that's the case should we shuck it all in? Or should we take our sovernity seriously and have a minimum Air Corps/Air Force? FiannaFail  |
No we shouldn't chuck it all in, and I think even the biggest critic of IAC spending wouldn't make such a suggestion. The IAC needs jets, the public perception of fighter jets is to protect us from an invasion and because theres no chance of us being invaded theres therefore no need to have them, but this isn't the case. The IAC does not have the adaqete equipment to deal with a hijacked aircraft or an aircraft not communicating with ATC thats in Irish controlled airspace. Many would also argue that investing in fighter jets compromises our neutrality, well so does the USAF using Shannon Airport yet the government seem keen on letting them continue using it.
The fact is that countries like Sweden and Switzerland are also neutral countries yet they have invested in their air force and have a great air force there to defend them. I think its a complete joke that Ireland still relies on the RAF to carry out such roles as search & rescue where the Irish Coast Guard can't, I also think its a joke that in the event of a stray aircraft in Irish airspace posing a threat to this country, we have to rely on the RAF to come over and defend us. We are a fully independent state and should not have to rely on the forces of another country to defend us. It could be said that the IAC makes very good use of what they have but the fact remains they don't have enough, and if the navy can secure €180ml of funding for 3 new ships, surely the minister for defence can secure €50-60ml of funding for new jet aircraft? Its not as if the IAC has never had them, we've had several jet aircraft in the past so it'd be nothing new.
I can understand that TDs may be cautious about the idea of securing the money for new jets as the media may throw out headlines such as 'Not enough funding for hospital beds but enough for fighter jets', but we're past the election...
While some may see the RAF defending us as a way of saving costs, I and a lot of others see it as undermining the sovereignty of this country.
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'> . Personally, I've got a big interest in aviation and I'm hoping to enroll at PTC in Waterford, but I'm also interested in the simulation/virtual side of things, and, using Microsoft's Flight Simulator, I and about 200,000 others around the world simulate real ATC and flying procedures on an online network, and its partly through this and through flight lessons that I know a lot about the real procedures used by ATC at Dublin and other airports in Ireland, but I know very little about military procedures, despite living on the flightpath of runway 29 at Baldonnel. I'm part of the Irish division of that network and I'm wanting to simulate Baldonnel ATC but can't really with the little knowledge I have of procedures there, which is why I'm asking these questions.
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