New govt jet may struggle to land in fog because state requested Israeli system not be included

THE NEW GOVERNMENT jet may struggle to land in fog and bad weather because it was ordered without a navigational system which is made by an Israeli company, The Journal has learned. 

Delivered just before Christmas last year, the €53m Dassault Falcon 6X aircraft replaced the government’s ailing Lear Jet which had suffered significant technical difficulties and was also more limited in range.

Defined as a multi-purpose Strategic Reach Aircraft, it can carry out a range of operations, including long distance air ambulance missions, but is generally used for transport of ministers and the Taoiseach.

Manufactured by Dassault Aviation SA, a French aerospace company of long-standing in the aviation and defence industries, the craft has a passenger capacity of 14. It is operated by the Irish Air Corps from Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnell.

Multiple sources have confirmed to The Journal that a piece of equipment used to help land the plane in fog or other inclement conditions was not included in the plane.

The system, which normally sits on the nose of the aircraft, is known as the FalconEye. Essentially it is a system which can ‘see through’ low visibility conditions and allow the aircraft to land.

Dassault defines the system of cameras and sensors as giving pilots “unprecedented all-weather situational awareness, day or night, in any phase of flight”.

The equipment is fed into the cockpit to a display that the pilots view as they make their approach. Without it, there are more limited the opportunities for pilots to make the approach. 

Kevin Phipps, a former Irish Air Corps pilot and now an airline pilot, explained the system’s benefits. 

“Enhanced vision systems use a number of infra-red and other light spectrum cameras whose imagery is projected onto heads up display screens in the cockpit to provide unparalleled situational awareness allowing pilots to see at night and through the most inclement weather conditions.

“The operational benefit of this system is the ability to land in fog when other aircraft would have to divert to another airport,” he said. 

We asked the Department of Defence in April was the lack of the system limiting the use of the aircraft. 

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It responded: “While it would not be appropriate to provide further comments on the specification of the aircraft it can be confirmed that there are no current limits on the operational capability of the aircraft.”

This exact formula of words was also used in response to a question posed by Labour TD Ged Nash in the Dáil in April.

While the State’s response to our query says there are no current limits on the operational capability, the well-placed sources we spoke to all said the absence of the system placed limits on the range of options available to pilots. 

Elbit

We continued to investigate the issue, and we have identified, through multiple sources, that the reason the system was not included on the aircraft was because it is manufactured by an Israeli company called Elbit. 

In August 2024 Micheál Martin, then Tánaiste and minister for defence and foreign affairs, said that Ireland would not be purchasing kit which contains Israeli manufactured products.

This came in response to the genocide in Gaza but also a widespread campaign to halt Irish trade with Israel.

We have previously revealed that four new helicopters, to be built by Airbus Helicopters UK for the Irish Air Corps, carry Israeli manufactured tech. They carry Helionix which is manufactured by Airbus and Elbit Systems. Helionix flight systems are critical components in the helicopters’ cockpits. 

Our enquiries have established that those helicopters cannot be produced without the systems as they are seen as integral to the avionics in the aircraft built by Airbus.

It has also been confirmed that the new maritime patrol CASA 295 aircraft have Israeli manufactured radar on board.

The difference with the Falcon 6X is that it would have required the Irish government entering into a written agreement with Elbit. Procurement officials in Ireland determined this was a step too far for the Irish State and asked that the system not be included. 

We requested documents, through the Freedom of Information Act, around what other projects have been curtailed due to the policy of not using Israeli technology. 

The Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána returned with a finding that the organisations had no relevant records to provide to us. The Department of Defence requested a lengthy extension as their procurement section was on annual leave.