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  • Are you loosing it???

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    Last edited by Soarhead2; 5 November 2020, 13:13.

  • #2
    Originally posted by Soarhead2 View Post
    All these posts about Gripen or Eurofighter and C130 versus A400. Really ?? Covid is emptying the coffers, just be grateful the PC12's arrived.
    The CASA replacement 295's are likely to be the last investment for the next 25 years.

    Sorry but you know thats the reality.
    That's not how government spending works, fortunately.
    All countries are in deficit. The stronger your ability to repay, the more money you can borrow. We just used our rainy day fund to keep people in jobs while businesses are shut down. Europe also gave us a big wad because our economy is their economy too.
    There are no "coffers". There is no piggy bank of irish money to be divvied out amongst the departments.
    Instead each department tells the Dept of finance how much it will cost to run their department that year, and Finance decides whether it will give it to them or not.
    The DoD consistently under-achieve. They ask for low amounts, and return unspent funds at the end of the year. This is poor accounting.

    The Next investment has already been confirmed as the PC9m replacement. That's 5 years away. In the meantime the former TAOISEACH discussed in the Dáil the question of getting a military transport aircraft. We discussed options here at length, from purchasing second hand, new or even buying into a shared aircraft, such as the A400M. The latter is well within our spending ability. We could have funded it from what was returned to the exchequer in recent years.
    Gripen/Eurofighter are also things that have been discussed at government level. (not type specific, but in concept).
    We also have a Huge foreign aid budget, much of which is redirected by 3rd world countries to buy military equipment...

    But hey...
    For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by na grohmiti View Post
      We also have a Huge foreign aid budget, much of which is redirected by 3rd world countries to buy military equipment...
      That's where we should be funding all overseas missions from in fairness. Leave the Defence budget to purely fund home requirements, infrastructure, etc.
      Use overseas aid to cover mission specific equipment and expenses. I would imagine if all overseas was totally covered by this there would still be a sizeable chunk left for water projects, schools, the usual overseas aid things......and 3rd world countries buying military equipment
      An army is power. Its entire purpose is to coerce others. This power can not be used carelessly or recklessly. This power can do great harm. We have seen more suffering than any man should ever see, and if there is going to be an end to it, it must be an end that justifies the cost. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

      Comment


      • #4
        €817m last year. And they want to increase it year on year until it is 0.7% of GNI by 2025.
        Of OECD countries, Ireland provides the 12th highest % of GDP to overseas development Aid.
        More than Australia, Canada and Japan!
        The 2017 report tells me most of the funds went to the following Countries. https://www.irishaid.ie/media/irisha...eport-2017.pdf
        Vietnam and the Mekong Sub-Region. (80 SU-27, SU-30, SU-22, 3 C295)
        Columbia (21 IAI Kfir, 6 C130, 8 C295, KC767, B737, B727)
        The Sahel (Try to name a Sahel state that isn't currently at war with someone)
        Ethiopia (10 Mig 23, 14 SU27, 2 C130)
        Malawi (no Fighter or large transport aircraft)
        Mozambique (8 Mig 21, 1 AN26)
        Sierra Leone & Liberia (SL has no finctioning combat aircraft, Liberia operate a 727, 707 and BAC 1-11 in VIP transport role)
        Tanzania (11 Shenyang F7, 3 J6, 2 Shaanxi Y8(AN12 copy) )
        Uganda (Mig21, SU-27, SU-30
        Zambia (10 Mig 21, 8 Shenyang J6, 2 C27, 1 Xian MA60(AN24 Copy)

        So if we can afford to give more to Poor countries than most Wealthy countries, and the poor countries have better equipped air wings than we do.... where oh where is this empty coffer?
        For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

        Comment


        • #5
          Overseas Aid is just that overseas aid, if it is used for military equipment or expenses then it is no longer overseas aid but military expenditure. The reason why the amount is almost the same as what we spend on the Defence Forces is that it has a large and vocal lobby industry behind it. While it is noble to help others not so well off the aid as many point out does not improve the lot of others but merely allows the recipient nations to by more guns etc. It make the people, (who complain about the price of caffe-latte-macchiato; ensuring the poor person serving them will get minimum wage), feel good as they have support some water project in Africa. Try cutting it and the mob will arise from tax havens to pester every elected official in the country.

          As for the coffers being empty, they are not. Yes Covid-19 will mean that the government will spend more this year and next than it had planned but we have been here before and it did not cause the collapse of society. The financial crisis of 2008, which was partially fueled by excess spending from the government cost the country around €152bn. (That is taking the excess from 2007 to 2011 over the trend-line for this period.) The peak was a yearly spend of nearly €145bn, this compares to a spend in 2019 of €96bn, some €49bn less.

          Whenever a government in any country has to raise taxes there is always an outcry that they are too high, no matter what level they are at. Are there ways the Irish government could raise more in revenue to pay for an increase in defence spending without cutting other socially important areas? Of course the answer is yes. Take VRT, the maximum rate is for cars above 1.9lt, but it does not matter if it is a VW Tiguan at €34k or a MB G-class at €173k, both are taxed at 30%. What I learnt many moons ago in Commerce class is that taxes should be progressive, so in this case the rate for the higher priced car could be higher. If that is applied across the board raising the amount needed for defence should not hurt most people. In Sweden they have proposed to raise the tax on alcohol to partially fund their increased defence expenditure, no that would not work in Ireland but we can find other sources, like a tax on BS/fake news or a fee for BS demos.

          But it should not be just throwing money at defence, it needs first to have identified the need and ensured that what is spent is spent wisely and effectively.

          Comment


          • #6
            The thing is, in Sweden, even the Greens endorse defence spending, when you consider who shares the Baltic with them. Need more fighters,they say? Just buy them.

            Comment


            • #7
              Our greens choose to avoid the subject matter completely.
              For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by na grohmiti View Post
                The Next investment has already been confirmed as the PC9m replacement. That's 5 years away.
                Will the airframes actually be worn out by then? Genuinely not sure but I recall reading on the forum here that they were not accumulating a high number of hours. Given we received a new airframe recently, we could probably get another 10-15 years out of the fleet if the hours flown are managed and spread amongst them as evenly as possible. Open to correction here.

                Comment


                • #9
                  These days, operators don't look for the absolute maximum hours out of an airframe. They'll run them for the duration of a service contract and either get new ones or go for a mid-life overhaul. Airlines often will dump a fleet for stripping out well before their theoretical end of service date so you get 15 year old A320s going for beer cans. It wouldnt be unusual in the militaries with big fleets to do it. They get to 10 or 15 years in service with a type by which time a newer model comes out so the old one gets fobbed off another air force that's happy to take them and some of that is driven by advances in avionics or engines. Air arms operating the PC-9 can still buy them new and even the old PC-7 Mk II is available to special order but increasingly, Pilatus will push the PC-21 as this is the direction they and many end users want to go in.

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                  • #10
                    Ok, I obviously don't have as much knowledge as others, but I would have thought that it would be more economical to upgrade them when they theoretically have a significant number of hours remaining on the airframe, rather than replacing them just because the funding may be available. A PC21 at the end of the day is still a turbo prop aircraft of similar configuration, billed as a potential replacement for both older turbo props and jet trainer aircraft such as the L39 or Hawk but without emulating the flight characteristics of such (climb rate, acceleration, etc). It justs seems like the money could be spent better elsewhere, perhaps additional helicopters, C295's or dare I say it towards developing an interception capability as mentioned as a potential capability by the defence forces themselves.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      The first major operator of the PC-9, the RAAF only removed the type after 32 years of service. Looking at the older PC-7, they are still in service with the Swiss 41 years after they were introduced. So it would seem that they could serve a lot more than 20 years.

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                      • #12
                        Sometimes, the decision is dictated by the cost of avionics, as the engines stay fundamentally the same but avionics are upgraded constantly and what was top of the range in 2000 might be obsolete in 2020 and that manufacturer might not want to continue making or overhauling the Mk 1 computer anymore and it might already be at Mk1-20 by 2020,so it'd be well overdue for replacement as a type. As an example, the A320 with 72 flight computers is replaced with a network based system that has 5 core computers, much less in the way of wiring looms and it saves weight and fuel and parts count. It was not much more than a concept in 2000. As for upgrades to airframes, quite often, that's dictated by wear and tear in service such as corrosion or cracks, so that can drive fleet upgrades rather than time or utility.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          It may be that the decision is made based on the fact that the type is very good at what it does, and by changing now, we get a good 2nd hand price as we replace with something with slightly more all round capability?
                          For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Soarhead2 View Post
                            All these posts about Gripen or Eurofighter and C130 versus A400. Really ?? Covid is emptying the coffers, just be grateful the PC12's arrived.
                            The CASA replacement 295's are likely to be the last investment for the next 25 years.

                            Sorry but you know thats the reality.

                            Have you never whiled away an idle hour thinking about what you’ll spend your Euromillions win on?
                            'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
                            'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
                            Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
                            He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
                            http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              The people who buy and sell aircraft watch the market like a hawk and the prices of certain types hold their value while others evaporate, the A380 being a case in point. From the military point of view, the C130 is a classic because even old ones are ready sellers and they have a strong support base and a strong pool of qualified people to deal with them. They are profoundly good aircraft and it's a pity we never had one or even dared to buy second hand.

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