The Irish Government and Thales DMS France have signed a multi-million euro contract for a towed sonar system, to enhance the nation’s maritime security capabilities.
This sonar system, set to be deployed on Irish Naval vessels in 2027, will enhance monitoring and surveillance within the subsea environment.
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It will be mainly used to monitor critical areas such as subsea communication cables and gas pipelines within the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The Naval Service and Air Corps monitor Irish seas, and this new acquisition will improve underwater awareness, contributing to the overall maritime picture for the naval service and defence forces.
This enhanced awareness is crucial for identifying illegal activities, including fishing violations, drug trafficking, terrorism, and espionage.
The initiative is the first phase of a broader strategy aimed at developing a comprehensive understanding of the subsea domain.
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By GlobalDataIreland Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Simon Harris said: “This significant investment in sonar capability will provide the Naval Service with a state-of-the-art sonar system, which will enable them to build a picture of our subsea, thus contributing to the important task of protecting our critical underwater infrastructure.
“This is one of many strands of work being progressed to address the threats in our maritime domain. It will serve as an important first step in creating a “pattern of life” in the subsea domain, with future projects further enhancing this capability.”
The Department of Defence (DoD), which is leading the formulation of Ireland’s inaugural National Maritime Security Strategy, has been allocated €215m ($248.6m) in capital funding in budget 2025, with an expected increase to €220m for 2026.
The allocated capital funding facilitates a methodical and staged approach to ongoing equipment upgrades and infrastructure improvements within the Army, Air Corps, and Naval Service, said the DoD. This approach aligns with priorities set out in the Defence White Paper and the findings from the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, building upon substantial investments made in recent years.
Transitioning to ‘Level of Ambition 2’ (LOA2) involves incremental funding boosts aimed at achieving a defence budget of around €1.5bn, adjusted to January 2022 price levels, by 2028. This increase will be realised through annual budget estimates, noted the DoD.
Some of the security initiatives contributing to Maritime Security highlighted by the DoD include the Naval Service’s participation as an observer in a PESCO project focused on Critical Seabed Infrastructure Protection.
This project aims to bolster the European Union’s capacity to safeguard vital maritime infrastructure.
Additionally, the government has approved the defence forces’ involvement in the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE). CISE is an EU initiative designed to enhance structured and secure information exchange among maritime authorities.
