Irish armed forces

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IrelandIreland Óglaigh na hÉireann
Oglaigh na heireann.png
Military strength by person
Commander in chief President Michael D. Higgins
Defense Minister Minister of State Paul Kehoe
Active soldiers 9,359 (as of 2012)
Reservists 4,371 (as of 2012)
Share of soldiers in the total population 0.2%
Defense budget
expenditure US $ 1.15 billion (2007)

The Armed Forces of Ireland ( Irish : Óglaigh na hÉireann , IPA : [ˈoːɡɫ̪iː n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ]; English : Irish Defense Forces ) are the military of the Republic of Ireland . The Irish name means "volunteers of Ireland" translated into German. They consist of the armed forces Army ( Irish Army , Irish: Arm na hÉireann ), Air Force ( Irish Air Corps , Irish: Aer Chór na hÉireann ) and Navy ( Naval Service , Irish: Seirbhís Chabhlaigh na hÉireann ). At the end of 2012 they comprised around 9,300 active soldiers and are organized as a professional army . In the same year, a maximum limit of 9,500 members in active and around 4,000 in reserve service was set.

history

The Irish Defense Forces (Óglaigh na hÉireann) came into being after a split in the IRA in January 1922 as the official army of the newly founded Free State. The commander at the time of its founding was Michael Collins . She was soon in the beginning Irish civil war against parts of the IRA under the later Irish President Éamon de Valera , who rejected the Anglo-Irish Treaty and called for a republic . In May 1923 the Republican forces surrendered and Chief of Staff Frank Aiken ordered the weapons to be buried, which ended the civil war. In the period that followed, the size of the army was greatly reduced. During World War II Ireland remained neutral and mobilized its reserve units. The Irish Army has participated in many UN missions abroad since the 1950s . The Reserve Defense Force ( RDF , Na hÓglaigh Cúltaca ) replaced its predecessors An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil and An Slua Muirí in October 2005 .

In 2015, the flagship LÉ Eithne participated in the Frontex- led Operation Triton in the southern Mediterranean.

assignment

The Irish Armed Forces have a mandate to protect the territorial integrity of the Republic of Ireland and to guarantee national defense in the event of war. They also perform civil and fisheries protection tasks, support international UN missions and provide administrative assistance in the event of disasters and accidents in Ireland.

organization

Organization of the Irish Land Forces

The Irish armed forces are one of the least numerous armies of the European Union and its defense budget is one of the lowest in the European territorial states . The low proportion of heavy armament is largely attributable to the country's island situation, which makes a direct attack on Irish territory virtually impossible. Despite these limitations, the Irish armed forces are a well-equipped and modern army.

The Irish Defense Forces are divided into three brigades of land forces, a training and education center as well as the navy and air forces.

Chain of command

The Commander in Chief of the Irish Armed Forces is the Irish President, currently Michael D. Higgins. The daily duties of the armed forces are coordinated and directed by the defense minister, currently (2015) Simon Coveney holds this office. The so-called Council of Defense (Defense Committee) is attached to the Defense Minister for advice and support ; it consists of two civilian state secretaries and the chief of staff as well as his two deputies.

Previous chiefs of the General Staff included:

Armed forces

army

Mowag piranha

The army comprises about 7,500 soldiers and is divided two infantry - brigades . The 1st (Southern) Brigade has three battalions , the 2nd (Northern) Brigade in Dublin has four. Both brigades also have a field artillery unit , equipped with light field guns L118 105mm , and support forces in company strength .

The army has the following armored vehicles:

Part of the armed forces is the special unit Army Ranger Wing ( Sciathán Fianóglach an Airm ). The troop strength of this elite unit is kept secret.

marine

LÉ Niamh (P52)
LÉ Eithne (P31)

The main tasks of the approximately 1,000-strong Naval Service are fisheries protection and the monitoring of Irish territorial waters. The navy's equipment is tailored for this purpose.

At the head of the Navy is the Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service with the rank of Commodore . The only base and headquarters are on Haulbowline Island , in the Cork Habour . The naval school, the operational and support command are also located there. The Navy has a flotilla with seven ships.

Seaworthy patrol ships
Emer class
  • LÉ Aoife (P22): in service since 1979, retired in 2014, handed over to the Armed Forces of Malta on June 28, 2015
  • LÉ Aisling (P23): in service since 1980
No class
  • LÉ Eithne (P31): flagship , with helicopter landing deck, in service since 1984
Peacock class
  • LÉ Orla (P41): in service since 1988
  • LÉ Ciara (P42): in service since 1988
Coastal patrol ships
Róisín class
  • LÉ Róisín (P51): in service since 1999
  • LÉ Niamh (P52): in service since 2001
Samuel Beckett class
  • LÉ Samuel Beckett (P61): in service since May 2014
  • LÉ James Joyce (P62): in service since September 2015
  • LÉ William Butler Yeats (P63): in service since October 2016

air force

The main tasks of the Air Corps, which comprise around 800 people, are to support the army and transport people and material. The National Army Air Service was founded in 1922 and at that time it had Baldonnel Airport as its base. The first commanders were the pilots TW McSweeney and CF Russell. In 1924 it was renamed Army's Air Corps . The Corps was not involved in combat operations during World War II . Since the decommissioning of their 7 Fouga Magister in 1998, the Corps has no jet-powered combat aircraft. It operates the following types of aircraft and helicopters:

Irish Air Corps AW139

Reserve units

In addition to the professional army, there is also the Reserve Defense Force , which consists of the Army Reserve (Irish: Cúltaca an Airm ) and the Naval Service Reserve ( NSR , Cúltaca na Seirbhíse Cabhlaigh ), which can be mobilized in the event of war and consist of volunteers. Together, the two reserve forces comprised around 4,300 men and women in 2012.

See also

Web links

Commons : Irish Armed Forces  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Department of Defense and Defense Forces (ed.): Annual Report 2012 . 2013, ISSN  1649-9999 ( PDF [accessed December 25, 2015] English). PDF ( Memento of the original from December 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.defence.ie
  2. ^ Defense Forces General Staff. Irish Forces, accessed December 25, 2015 .
  3. ^ Naval Service. Irish Forces, accessed December 25, 2015 .
  4. ^ Aoife Barry: Goodbye LÉ Emer and LÉ Aoife… hello James Joyce and Samuel Beckett . Journal Media. July 11, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  5. Small but nice - Irish Air Corps . In: Fliegerrevue . July 2011, ISSN 0941-889X , p.   24-26 .