Originally Posted by
West Coast
Sorry, ATCO considerations aren’t the final word on whether a nation needs ADF.
No arguments from me there. My point was in response to the risk of them colliding with civilian traffic as a result of implied illegal activity by operating + or - 500ft of civilian traffic, which isn't breaking any rules. I've seen a few cases of military traffic busting separation minima with civilian traffic, none involved the Russians.
The reality is a QRA force has less than 10% public support in Ireland because of the cost, it would be hugely detrimental to whichever government brought it in. The Irish defense forces are losing personnel in droves because the Ts & Cs are terrible. There's at least 2 naval vessels tied up because there aren't enough crews to operate them, and there's often no fixed wing medical/SAR availability because either there aren't enough flight crews or military controllers to be on call. These issues need to be fixed first.
Then there's other issues within those proposals put forward in the white paper, much of this proposed force's operations would be over the stormy NAT, in winter. Is putting them out there in a single engine Grippen or second hand F16 too risky, or should we really be looking at more expensive twin engine platforms?
I have no doubt Uncle Sam would give us very competitive pricing and support on F15/16/18 platforms, but the opposition from Joe Public to any cost of any Fighter from any nation is the elephant in the room.