Claims Air Corps plane prevented from entering Swedish airspace
The allegation comes just 24 hours after an embarrassing oversight left the LÉ Eithne tied up when she was supposed to have left Haulbowline to help Italian authorities rescue migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Department of Defence admitted it is still in negotiations with the Italian authorities over clearance for the rescue mission, despite the Government having sanctioned the migrant operation on April 11.
Now it has refused to comment on why an Air Corps CASA was prevented from landing in Sweden in March to deliver munitions to the Irish Artillery Corps involved in a training exercise there.
In a statement, the Department of Defence said it is “an operational matter and we will not be commenting”.
The Irish Examiner has learned that the CASA was scheduled to transport a number of surface-to-air defence missiles systems to Stockholm as part of a live training exercise by the Irish Artillery Corps in Sweden, which was due to take place a few weeks later.
Well-placed sources claim that while in mid-flight, the captain of the CASA was refused permission to enter Swedish airspace as the local aviation authorities had not been informed of the pending arrival of this “sensitive cargo”. The reason the missiles were being taken for target practise in Sweden is they can engage targets up to 5,000m in the air and there is no suitable range here from which to fire them safely.
Sources say that general arrangements are in place with SAAB and the Swedish government to permit the Defence Forces the use of suitable missile ranges in Sweden, but for some reason this time the CASA was refused landing rights.
It is understood the missiles being transported to Sweden were reaching their expiry date and a decision was made to use them so the Artillery Corps could get some valuable practice in.
Claims have been made that an Air Corps application was submitted to the Department of Defence for transmission to the Swedish authorities via the normal diplomatic channels.
Once denied entry the CASA crew replotted a course back to Dublin, but barely had the fuel to make it back.
