Russia could use its shadow fleet as launching pads for drone attacks anywhere in Europe, the EU’s Defence Commissioner has warned.
Russian vessels are thought to have passed through Irish waters hundreds of times this year.
There has also been an increase in suspicious drone activity including sightings over Munich, Copenhagen and Brussels in recent weeks.
The Irish government is investing millions of Euro in sonar to better detect ships, but the system will not be fully up and running before 2027.
Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Simon Harris TD, said the new system would give the Naval Service “a picture of our subsea, thus contributing to the important task of protecting our critical underwater infrastructure.”
The shadow fleet is a number of vessels, perhaps hundreds of them, that have been procured by Russia in spite of international sanctions.
Experts say they are often ageing boats in a poor state of repair lacking proper insurance and giving off false or disabled signalling to try and float under the radar.
It is thought Russia is using the vessels to illegally transport oil and gas to circumnavigate EU sanctions.
But now the European Commissioner for Defence, Andrius Kubilius, has suggested that the fleet could also be used as a possible launch pad for Russian drone attacks.
He is urging the European Union to prepare against what he called increasing drone provocations.
“All the member states want to develop their air defence capabilities”, he told MEPs in the European Parliament’s Security and Defence Committee.
“You don’t need to launch a drone only from Russian territory. We don’t know still, is it possible to launch – theoretically, yes, perhaps it’s possible – to launch the drones from shadow Russian fleet. And that fleet is coming around all the European continent so we need to be ready everywhere.”
Ireland is also beefing up its air defences.
Earlier this year, Simon Harris said that Ireland was buying its first radar system capable of detecting stealth aircraft.
The Commission on the Defence Forces back in 2022 recommended that Ireland needed to “enhanced situational awareness with recognised maritime and air pictures through the acquisition and development of primary radar, coastal radar and associated systems to allow the development of a ‘Recognised Air Picture’ to support national security.”