What Military Aid Could Ireland Send To Ukraine... Really?
Pictured: Irish soldiers training with the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile
On June the 2nd, Ireland became the latest country to recognise Russian actions in Ukraine as a genocide perpetrated against the Ukrainian people. Whilst a laudable decision in its own right, it immediately raised the obvious question that was pondered by many inside and outside Ireland - “If Russia’s actions against the Ukrainians are genocidal, why isn’t Ireland prepared to provide military assistance to Ukraine to enable them to resist it?”
Many suggested that Ireland’s long standing policy of military neutrality prohibited the country from sending arms. Not so, according to Dr David Kenny, assistant professor of law at Trinity College Dublin. “There is no constitutional bar on Ireland sending weapons abroad”, he said, speaking to the Irish Times. “While the Constitution probably bars Ireland from joining NATO without a referendum, it does not prevent Ireland helping another country with weapons, or even troops, on a bilateral basis”.
The other argument was that Ireland simply does not have anything worthwhile to send. But again, this is just not true. Whilst Ireland does not have a surplus of armored vehicles like the United States or the United Kingdom, there are still useful pieces of military equipment in Irish stockpiles the Ukrainians could put to good use. And although these would be taken directly from Defence Force’s stocks, Ireland’s relatively charmed geopolitical status - being an island on the edge of Europe, thousands of miles away from the only potential aggressor - means Irish national security would not be damaged by a temporary depletion of such materiel.
But what military aid could Ireland realistically send to the Ukrainians? As well as a variety of small arms, top of the list would be anti-tank weaponry. According to Irish military figures quoted in the Irish Times, there are currently around 1,800 Swedish made AT4 shoulder launched anti-tank rocket launchers sitting unused in Irish stocks. In addition, Ireland possess around 100 Javelin anti-tank guided missiles, and a smaller supply of older but still effective Carl Gustav recoilless rifles. All of these weapons are in current use by the Ukrainian military, meaning training would not be an issue. Any number of these weapons could be immediately donated to Ukraine without damaging Irish national security.
The Irish also operate a small artillery force, consisting of 17 L118 and 6 L119 Light Guns, according to The Military Balance, 2022. The UK and New Zealand are currently training the Ukrainians to use the L119 guns, which use different ammunition from the L118, despite being the same caliber. Donating the Defence Force’s 6 L119s - which could then be replaced with 6 L118s at a later date - would both aid the Ukrainians and help rationalise Defence Force logistics, as only one type of 105mm ammunition would be needed in future.
Also in Irish inventories are 84 relatively modern LLR 81mm mortars, manufactured by French defence contractor Thales. As well as being highly accurate, these mortars as still in production, meaning that a quantity could be donated to the Ukrainians and then replaced by stock direct from the manufacturer. The LLR 81mm mortar would also fire the same NATO standard mortar rounds as any other Western 81mm mortars that have been supplied to the Ukrainians. Again, any amount of these weapons could be donated without damaging Irish national security.
And finally, the Irish Defence Forces have a large number of logistics vehicles in service, including 280 standard Toyota Landcruisers, 52 armored variants of the same, 60 Mercedes-Benz 1117 and 55 Leyland DAF T244 military trucks. The Ukrainian military is currently extremely short of all forms of transportation, having to rely on vehicles donated by volunteers and sourced from second hand markets throughout Europe, so any Irish donation of these essential vehicles would be very welcome.
Ireland is never going to be able to supply Ukraine with huge, war winning amounts of war materiel. But in a conflict like this, every little matters. Other small countries with limited defence budgets - such as Luxembourg - have realised this, donating small but significant amounts of military aid, such as a shipment of 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons.
So Irish military aid can make a difference in Ukraine - even if that difference is small in comparison to other countries. And it’s clear that many - if not all - Irish people understand the moral imperative of doing everything possible to help a people resist an attempted genocide. Fundamentally, all that is needed from Irish legislators is the political will to do the right thing.