WATCH: Defence Forces release BIZARRE video featuring a soldier with a machine gun in a helicopter chasing a small unmanned plane...  as State assumes EU Presidency amid threat of high-tech Russian drones

By DEBBIE MCCANN and JOHN DRENNAN Published: 16:35, 3 July 2026 | Updated: 16:35, 3 July 2026 The State’s only anti-drone technology still does not have the capability to ‘blow drones out of the sky’, just days before Ireland takes over the presidency of the European Council. The Defence Forces this week confirmed Irish Air Corps helicopter crews have been training on how to shoot down drones using a machine gun on their aircraft. It comes as EU figures warned Ireland is ‘literally defenceless’ and becoming a French military ‘protectorate’. Dr Eoin Drea, senior researcher at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels, told the Irish Mail on Sunday there is huge concern in Brussels about Ireland’s preparedness to deal with possible security issues during the presidency, ‘in particular, our inability to detect and destroy incoming UAV incursions’. Dr Drea said the Defence Forces being obliged to mount machine guns on choppers to protect against drone incursions ‘highlights the very limited nature of our capabilities’. The Defence Forces secured counter-drone equipment from France last year and this will be used at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel. However, Department of Defence officials admitted to the MoS in February the €17million Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) purchased by the State have significant ‘shortcomings’. Sources said the anti-drone system lacks ‘hard kill effectors’ that can ‘blow drones out of the sky’. A screenshot from the video showing a gunner take aim at the unmanned plane - you can watch the full video below The C-UAS can only be positioned in one place at a time. This means Dublin Airport – where EU leaders will arrive into the country for high-level meetings later this year – and Baldonnel cannot both be protected at the same time. A source told the MoS: ‘The capabilities to be procured will also be deployable to other key installations at request but will provide full protection to one location at any one time only.’ Agreement for the new anti-drone system was finalised within Government on October 9 last – two months before Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky’s plane was shadowed by drones as it approached Dublin Airport. Officials confirmed the new French-designed system does not ‘include a kinetic effector gun’, which means it does not possess ‘hard kill effectors’ that can shoot down unidentified drones. Instead, it has ‘soft kill effectors’, which include ‘drone net inceptors, omni radio frequency jammers and hand-held jammer guns’. Ireland still does not have its own military radar detection or air-defence capability. Gardaí have obtained small-scale short-range counter-drone equipment in advance of the presidency and have been receiving training. Air Corps helicopter crews have been training in shooting down drones using a machine gun on their aircraft. PC-9 aircraft have also been training in intercepting aircraft but their use is limited. To secure the State against hostile ‘bad actors’, Ireland will rely on the French Navy to patrol our seas and the British Royal Air Force to police our skies. But legal experts have warned Ireland could be in breach of the Constitution if it seeks the support of military foreign powers. The chopper locks in on its target  Dr Drea said our lack of defence capabilities, and the mounting international criticism, had ‘panicked Ireland into ill-considered agreements with France’. He said: ‘We are handing France huge power in our capital investment plans. They will decide what equipment suits us best and have full control over delivery, maintenance and training.’ He said the Government was panicked into handing France strategic leverage over Ireland at European Council level. ‘Such dependencies on France are alienating Ireland’s traditional security partner, Britain. After all, they have provided free air defence to Ireland for over 50 years.’ Security analyst and former Army Ranger Cathal Berry said the Constitution is ‘very specific’ and ‘every military entity must be raised and maintained by the Oireachtas’. The target was a small unmanned aircraft Bullets pepper the target, shooting it into the sea off the Meath coast He told the MoS: ‘It is an astonishing indictment of the neglect of military issues that this issue is being raised five days before we take over the presidency and after 13 years to prepare. ‘It is bad enough that we cannot defend ourselves but now, apparently, we are not permitted to ask others to defend us.’ Dr Berry questioned who will give the order to shoot down a drone if one is caught hovering over Dublin Castle. ‘Do we need to have an Irish officer to give permission to a French frigate to open fire? Does he have to go to his officers first?’ Independent senator and former attorney general Michael McDowell warned last November: ‘Any agreement to station troops here under the command of another EU nation or operate a ship off the coast would be unconstitutional under Articles 15.6.1 and 15.6.2. The chopper prepares to land after the successful training mission ‘These articles establish that only the Oireachtas has the right to “maintain military or armed forces” and that no military force, other than one “raised and maintained by the Oireachtas” can be used for any purpose.’ The Department of Defence said: ‘Extensive planning and preparation has been ongoing for some time, including the acquisition of specialist capability that will assist both An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. ‘A Defence Forces Joint Task Force will co-ordinate any Defence Forces supports to operations during the EU presidency.’ Asked to clarify if the anti-drone system now has the ability to shoot down unmanned aircraft, a spokesman said: ‘For operational security reasons, we do not elaborate on the specific characteristics of any particular capability, in this case the newly acquired C-UAS capability, other than to reiterate that training of military personnel from the Artillery Corps has been under way for some time to ensure the capability can be deployed by the start of the presidency.’ Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.