Foggy Thoughts – when procurement meets politics.

Government Insists New Jet Can Land in Bad Weather. It just isn’t defining what exactly it means by "land". What goes up must come down, and amongst the mathematical thinking of all pilots, one law of safety must balance:

The number of take-offs must equal the number of landings.

Considering this mantra, the Irish government jet, according to the government, will be able to land. That is good news. Specifically in heavy fog? Then the political language becomes as vague as the contents of a brown envelope.

Why is this so? Why is there a story, and why are the fundamentals of the story so…excuse me…foggy?

This is about when foreign policy, ethics, engineering, and operational capabilities all meet inside the same purchasing decision, and each one demands priority. Every procurement decision is a hostage negotiation where the hostages have guns too. So, in the case of the procurement process for the new Irish government jet, we have seen a Mexican standoff crossed with political tap-dancing. 

How did we get here? Quite simply, when you look at it through the lens of consistency, the available evidence suggests political considerations were given greater weight than acquiring this optional capability. The Irish government's position concerning Israel has become increasingly critical since the expansion of the Israel-Hamas war, and within that backdrop, the Irish government has stated that it will not purchase equipment containing Israeli-manufactured products. It would be deemed politically damaging to reverse that decision, even when considering safety equipment.

Maybe the government thought this issue would sneak under the radar (not that we bought any stealth tech while we were at it), but that’s hard when you pitch symbolism against capability. Symbolism and capability can be separated, but consistency in this respect is much more difficult. Why so? The consistency argument becomes more difficult when reports indicate that other recently procured Irish military aircraft contain integrated Israeli-origin systems. According to reporting by The Journal, such consistency does not apply to the purchase of Airbus helicopters with Helionix avionics or the new CASA 295 patrol aircraft with Israeli-made radar. Those systems are integrated, not add-ons. Politically, it seems to make a difference, but in reality, modern politics is increasingly asking engineers to solve political problems and politicians to defend engineering compromises. 

Ask a politician if pigs can fly, and they will check the political temperature before answering. It really all depends on whether they need radar or not.