Four unidentified military-style drones breached no-fly zone to target Zelenskyy's arrival in Dublin

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stevewhite

Member
FOUR UNIDENTIFIED MILITARY-STYLE drones breached a no-fly zone and flew towards the flight path of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plane at Dublin Airport late on Monday night, The Journal has learned.

The plane landed, slightly ahead of schedule, just moments before the incident happened at about 11pm. The drones reached the location where Zelenskyy's plane was expected to be at the exact moment it had been due to pass.

The drones then orbited above an Irish Navy vessel that had secretly been deployed in the Irish Sea for the Zelenskyy visit.

Sources have said that the drones took off from the north-east of Dublin, possibly near Howth, and flew for up to two hours. Gardaí are investigating whether the drones took off from land or from an undetected ship.
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The drones operated within the 12 nautical mile limit of Irish-controlled waters.
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It is understood that deck look-outs who were working on the ship spotted the drones, which were lit up against the night sky.
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https://www.thejournal.ie/drones-dublin-ireland-hybrid-warfare-russia-6893104-Dec2025/

They seem remarkable sure about this and previous drone incursions...

The incident mirrors similar drone incursions in Europe in recent months which led to the closure of airports in Brussels and Denmark and caused significant security tensions.
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There were mutiple aircraft in holding patterns off the coast of Ireland when Zelensky's plane was apporaching and landing, orbiting close to the Irish Air Corps CASA 295...

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One of the press reports even cited Brussels which we know was a helicopter, the irony!

More navigation lights being reported as drones. When will any journalists buy a drone, fly it at night and grasp the fact they're not fit with ICAO navigation lights and aren't seen at great distance?

A hat tip to @Kyle Ferriter for flagging concerns on X very quickly.
 
The french vessel Aquitaine was nowhere near - it was in dock in Cobh, Co. Cork.

The Irish vessel(s) switched off their AIS transponders shortly after leaving the coast, so we don't know their exact position.
 
One of the planes in the close holding pattern over the sea just SE of the bay, from roughly 21:56 to 23:08 (so 50min prior to Zelensky's plane landing at 22:47, to like 20 minutes after it landed) was a recon plane from the Irish military, based out of Dublin. Presumably there specifically to help monitor the airspace while Zelensky's plane was approaching.

Screenshot 2025-12-04 at 11.46.04 AM.png


It is one of three C295 Ireland ordered. Two of which are outfitted for surveillance, and one for transport. The first two it received in 2023 were for surveillance, and the one it just received a couple months ago in 2025 was the transport one. This one shown on ADSBX is one of those 2023 surveillance ones.
https://www.planespotters.net/hex/4CA41F
https://www.planespotters.net/airforce/Irish-Air-Corps
https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/worl...52096be4753546ff903cd0bb1780bcc5&ocid=UP21DHP
https://www.armyrecognition.com/new...al-waters-grows-with-new-airbus-c295-delivery
 
It's gonna be planes again, isn't it? And with the same-ish ironical twist, that because they announced a temporary no-fly zone for drones, and told planes to hold, the aircraft that had to keep circling suddenly started looking like drones to casual observers.

I say same-ish because usually it's a chopper being dispatched to look for drones that winds up becoming one. The same kind of twisted effect tho.
 
One thing I haven't been able to reliably answer is what type of radar the Irish C295 Maritime Surveillance Aircraft are fitted with - C295s can go from purely surface/vessel detection radars, to more advanced AESA types, with combined surface/air search capabilities.

The Journal article specifically states "It is understood an Irish Air Corps aircraft was also patrolling at the time but did not get involved."

It is also fitted with an EO turret under the nose, but we have no idea at this point if it, or the radar, were utilised on the mission.

It operated at 14,000 feet and it is possible the aircraft's main role was as acting as a comms relay, between ship/hq/ground units.
 
From this previously shared source

External Quote:
The drones had their lights turned on and it appeared "they wanted to be seen", a security source said.
Either Russia is playing 5D chess by somehow sneaking drones all the way to Ireland, turning their lights on to be spotted, and praying to god their intel is good enough that anyone that can spot them can't actually intercept in any way (it would have been a disaster for Russia if Russian drones got downed all the way in Ireland given the circumstances), all of this just to cause a panic that fuels support for Ukraine and further pushes European nations to arm themselves.

Or the people that were looking for something that could be suspicious got confused by lights of regular aircraft and attributed them to what they were primed to look for.

I do get the feeling that this is a kind of situation that will never get resolved (as opposed to some drone sightings), since it would be so embarrassing to admit if they are wrong and it would be political chaos if they prove they were right.
 
The first reporter Niall O'Connor [ex policeman] spoke on a short podcast about the story https://www.thejournal.ie/podcasts/66f2a0897a3d63d20ff54509/6931c7d338a11f5f3eab023f/
Says they were large [multi-rotor] drones. Size of a (half the height of a) fridge.
Said they flew to Zelensky's aircraft glide slope... as in the original article he claims they arrived at the time Zelenksy aircraft was supposed to arrive but it actually arrived earlier then it was supposed to. [but if they were manned by people couldn't they account for that?]
Says another source say there is suspicion they took off from ship or Howth headland/hill. [East of the airport], even mentions submarines.
They said they harassed the ship [sounds like they were close to the ship?].

No mention of taking video... not one mention of doubt about all these drones sightings.
 
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Calter said:
From this previously shared source

External Quote:
The drones had their lights turned on and it appeared "they wanted to be seen", a security source said.
Either Russia is playing 5D chess by somehow sneaking drones all the way to Ireland, turning their lights on to be spotted, and praying to god their intel is good enough that anyone that can spot them can't actually intercept in any way (it would have been a disaster for Russia if Russian drones got downed all the way in Ireland given the circumstances), all of this just to cause a panic that fuels support for Ukraine and further pushes European nations to arm themselves.

Or the people that were looking for something that could be suspicious got confused by lights of regular aircraft and attributed them to what they were primed to look for.

I do get the feeling that this is a kind of situation that will never get resolved (as opposed to some drone sightings), since it would be so embarrassing to admit if they are wrong and it would be political chaos if they prove they were right.
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Actually physically "downing" them is one thing, but they gotta have a point of origin and they gotta disappear somewhere.

If they're huge drones, there are some purely physical constraints here to consider. It should be child's play to narrow it down. Police in numerous European countries have managed this with much smaller and "stealthier" consumer drones flying where they're not supposed to, happens all the time, and we know by now that police isn't particularly drone-savvy in general at that.

Yet these huuuuuge "drones" are as elusive as ever.

And don't get me started on the lights again. The oft-repeated "it's as if they wanted to be seen" has by now started to actually tick me off.

Such an endless parade of illogic.

Too long;didn't read: the lights are regular aircraft.
 
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This is firmly in low information zone territory at the moment - if they have imagery showing that they were clearly quadcopters and released those images to the public, that really would be something.

But if it stays in the domain of stories about lights in the skies, it's reasonable to point at the five aircraft orbiting over the Irish Sea at the exact same time and suggest a possible misidentification.

For arguments sake - if they were drones and the 5D chess comments:

Ireland famously possesses a very minimal air defence capability, so the risk of shootdown/interception is essentially zero.
In my opinion it would be a lot simpler for Russia to pay somebody already living in Ireland do something like this than send a vessel/submarine.
(But an even simpler explanation might be some individual motivated for their own reasons)
In November 2024, Russia sent the vessel Yantar to the Irish Sea and while it was in the Irish EEZ, it decided to briefly switch on its AIS transponder for a couple of minutes, right when it was over a very important gas interconnector - Russia is not reluctant about signalling, even here.
 
It's always possible that there were drones. But so far it sounds like it was just visual sightings, and that the claim is that 4-5 large refrigerator-sized rotor drones flew above an Irish naval ship which was a few miles off the coast of Dublin during Zelensky's trip there. And the police and civilian airspace authority were not notified and don't have an open investigation. The sighting was made by one or more people on that ship. And a source told news reporters they saw the drones in the direction of Dublin, flying for up to two hours. At the same time, there was an Irish air force surveillance aircraft flying circles overhead nearby, and this surveillance craft was not involved in helping during the drone sighting incident.

From the The Journal article:
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Sources have said that the drones took off from the north-east of Dublin, possibly near Howth, and flew for up to two hours.
https://www.thejournal.ie/drones-dublin-ireland-hybrid-warfare-russia-6893104-Dec2025/

I think an obvious first question is whether the air force surveillance plane overhead detected these large drones flying below it over the course of the 75 minutes it was there. And whether they were tracked by airborne or ground radar (like at Dublin airport) while they were approaching, at, or leaving the scene. Also whether there is concrete sensor or video evidence for this.

Large drones for multiple hours in the controlled airspace for one of the busiest airport hubs in Europe, while the airport was operating and planes were on approach paths right next to where the drones were flying should result in some high quality evidence.

It may be premature to conclude plane misidentification at this point, but if the ship was near the area highlighted below, and they looked up towards the sky to their north, they would have seen planes arriving at the airport for hours, and after the airport resumed after Zelensky's landing, they would see the planes which had been in holding patterns fly around them in a counterclockwise loop to then line up to land at the airport.

The location highlighted in this article (embedded below) (https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/...th-to-dublin-triggering-major-security-alert/) is also within the controlled airspace footprint for the main DUB airport, which is on liveatc. Since it doesn't appear that the airport had any disruption aside from the brief pause during/after the Ukranian government aircraft landing, I wouldn't expect to find too much useful in these recordings, but it's worth looking at. The other two smaller Dublin area airports (EIWT: Dublin Weston, and Newcastle: EINC) are not on liveatc. https://www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=eidw

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If there were large foreign military drones violating controlled airspace and specific temporary flight restrictions for this national security operation to get Zelensky in and out, it seems like there would be something more to this. It would actually be a very big deal. And the airport wouldn't have kept operating, and Zelensky probably wouldn't have taken off like normal the next day as if nothing happened, putting him into the exact same situation vulnerable to unstoppable foreign military drones. A narrative being given is that Russia managed to get multiple large military drones into controlled airspace actively being monitored by multiple Irish military vehicles, right next to Ireland's biggest city, home to a large hub airport, while a half dozen civilian aircraft were also circling in the same area, and it was impossible to track the drones as to where they came from or where they went, and yet... nothing happened? Those civilian pilots reported nothing? The military didn't notify ATC that large foreign military drones were actively flying through their approach path? ATC just went right ahead and routed more planes through that same airspace? Everything carried along like normal?

It doesn't make any sense.
 
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From The Journal 04 December 2025, as per @stevewhite's OP
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Ireland's security services have found that the drones in the Irish Sea were large, hugely expensive, of military specification, and that the incident could be classed as a hybrid attack.
Unidentified, but of military specification? And it's known how much they cost? :rolleyes:

The LÉ William Butler Yeats, a Samuel Beckett class offshore patrol vessel (Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Beckett-class_offshore_patrol_vessel) doesn't have air defence radar, and it seems unlikely it carries a sophisticated electronic intelligence suite.
Ireland doesn't currently have air defence radar but plans to start fielding systems in 2026,
"Ireland plans for radar capability in 2026", 22 April 2025, Shepherd Media https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/landwarfareintl/ireland-plans-for-radar-capability-in-2026/.

dBm said:
One thing I haven't been able to reliably answer is what type of radar the Irish C295 Maritime Surveillance Aircraft are fitted with -C295s can go from purely surface/vessel detection radars, to more advanced AESA types, with combined surface/air search capabilities.
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Don't know if this is of any help- it certainly isn't conclusive- but Canadian C-295MSAs (Maritime Surveillance Aircraft*, same variant as the Irish Air Corps plane) carry the Elta Systems ELM-2022A Maritime Patrol Radar, which isn't an AESA system
"Elta ELM-2022 radar for Canadian C295 SAR aircraft", Defensa.com (Spanish, machine-translated) https://www.defensa.com/otan-y-europa/radar-elta-elm-2022-para-c295-sar-canadienses
There is an AESA version, ELM-2022ES (mentioned in the Defensa article), but I'd be surprised if the Irish aircraft are better-equipped than their Canadian equivalents.

There's some info on the ELM-2022 on the IAI website https://www.iai.co.il/p/elm-2022, also radartutorial.eu https://www.radartutorial.eu/19.kartei/08.airborne/karte037.en.html

The radar fairings on the Irish and Canadian machines look very similar but course the Irish C-295MSAs might carry a different system.

Screenshot 2025-12-05 022540.jpg

Irish Air Corps C-295MSA aircraft; Canadian aircraft below
cc-295 Kingfisher.jpg


Whatever its radar capabilities, it's a shame (from our point of view) that the IAC plane wasn't tasked to investigate as its nose-mounted optics might've recorded something (if there was anything there to be seen!)


*Airbus markets C-295 MSAs, Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (the type present in this incident) and C-295 MPAs, Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
The MSAs seem to be more targeted at fisheries protection, SAR, anti-smuggling and similar duties, the punchier MPAs have anti-surface vessel/ anti-submarine capabilities, carrying missiles/ torpedoes.
 
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At least with the NJ stuff we got video, even if we didn't get locations/dates/times here we just get "reports of drones"
 
I have to say I find the lack of footage very frustrating - I can understand, to a point, military being reluctant to release imagery/data from their own systems as it might reveal what they do and do not know.

But from this vantage point, some of what is being reported doesn't feel far removed from "trust me bro" UFO tales, with a similar dearth of supporting data.

It would be nice to have *some* concrete data - if someone is operating drones in such a fashion, which could lead to weapons being fired, in active, civilian airspace, with all the potential consequences that might bring - then it is very serious, but we need more than stories.
 
Trailblazer said:
Once again, if anyone claims to be able to identify the size and/or height of an unknown object in the sky just by looking at it, that's a red flag indicating an unreliable witness.
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Agreed, but an issue with military reports, which may involve institutional secrecy, is that we do not know what other information they had but we don't have, that might have aided in such determinations.

Of course, one thing that might seem like a secret worth keeping is "Our personnel/equipment mistook conventional aircraft for mysterious military drones."
 
Conor Gallagher, Irish Times Crime and Security Correspondent, [discusses] how drones sparked a security alert as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Ireland. On RTE Radio: Morning Ireland 05/12/2025 https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22565725/

Nothing particularly new. He said the Irish Navy
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Observed and reported
No mention of recording. Related news article https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/...th-to-dublin-triggering-major-security-alert/

Ireland will be hosting a Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2026 which will see multiple European leaders meetings in Ireland.

Taoiseach [Prime Minister] briefed on drone activity during Zelensky visit https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/1205/1547445-drones-ireland-security/

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Mr Martin noted that drone activity has become a "feature now across Europe".

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Earlier, the Minister for Defence Helen McEntee said that "everything went according to plan" during Mr Zelensky's visit to Ireland.
 
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So with those statements from the Navy and the lack of any other reports or photos/videos are at to conclude that the only witnesses to the apparent drones were military personnel on the ship?
 
They are saying it's a thing but no-one is REALLY reacting like it's a thing.

Also if it was a thing it should be hugely worrying and embarrassing to the people saying it's a thing, but because there's no real evidence there's nothing to point to.

I give up, the governments of EU countries are emphatically telling us they either suck at security or suck at IDing drones.
 
While we know the vessel involved doesn't possess an air search radar - I wonder if they are outfitted with ADS-B receivers (they're not exactly expensive) which would at least allow the crew to correlate lights in the sky with aircraft using ADS-B transponders.
 
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The receivers are not expensive no, but you'd need a system that added that data into the overall view, and they probably already do that.

The main problem is often not that "they" (as in RADAR operators etc) don't know there are planes there, it's that you get a report from someone else like new recruit Geoff on the deck saying they saw a drone and there is an assumption made at that point that they are not looking at the planes, and this is basically the cause of almost all drone flaps.

The issue is the inability to, in the moment, say for sure that Geoff on the ground's drone report is actually that 737 10 times further and higher and bigger than the "drone" they are reporting.

You have to act like it is real at the time, later if you have any evidence you might be able to correlate it (we have no idea if this ever gets done inside the institutions) but its just not possible in the precise moment it's happening, with enough certainty.
 
There is a garda investigation along with the Defences Forces and other authorities...

Garda national security team investigating rogue drones during Zelenskiy visit
https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-la...tigating-rogue-drones-during-zelenskiy-visit/

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The Irish Times has learned another naval ship, the LÉ Aoibhinn, was also secretly positioned in the bay at the time, acting as an inner cordon.

The Yeats's crew have now been fully debriefed on the drone sightings. It is understood officials have queried whether sentries may have mistaken civilian aircraft in a holding pattern over the bay for drones.

However, military officers have insisted the drones were flying much closer and much lower than the civilian aircraft.

They have now stated there is footage of the incident.

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Footage was also obtained of the incident.

 
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Follow up article from the first reporter
We may never discover who was operating the drones along Zelenskyy's flight path - here's why
https://www.thejournal.ie/drones-analysis-william-butler-yeats-dublin-6893629-Dec2025/


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The working hypothesis, for gardaí and the military, sources have said, is that the drones set off from a vessel sailing somewhere to the north east of Howth, Co Dublin.


Critically the drones came to the flight path too late to intercept or interfere with Zelenskyy's aircraft. They instead flew towards the LÉ William Butler Yeats which was located on the edge of Irish territorial waters.


The drones reportedly traveled at least 17km to the ship, loitered briefly, then returned in the direction they came from. There were debates onboard the Yeats, it is understood, whether to shoot down the drones but no action was taken as it was feared debris could fall into the populated area on shore.


There was one other incident on the sea which may provide a clue to investigators. On a screen monitoring ship traffic inside the Yeats an anomaly became visible for a short time. It was judged it was a surface boat or ship.


The naval service ship went to the location where they believed the vessel was but there was no trace of it when they arrived. One informed source speculated that it may have been a real trace but could have also been a "spoofing" incident in which bad actors place a ship at a location by using false GPS data. This has been happening in Europe, particularly in the Baltics recently.

 
dBm said:
Not sure if this is a later update of the article stevewhite already posted above but RTE reports "extensive video footage":
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/1205/1547445-drones-ireland-security/
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I'd wager it'll be extensive footage of aircraft navigation lights. Which will be a huge waste of time and money investigating, something EU authorities have learned the hard way.

Meanwhile, another pointer manned aviation was being seen, because if you can see lights but they're out of range they are kilometers away and not drone LEDs.

Dublin bought Dedrone kit so is most likely to have their gear, generally speaking which ever brand they have you're talking kilometers of range:
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The Gardai were on land, the naval vessel which reportedly saw the suspected drones, is reported to have been "on the edge of Irish territorial waters", so about 12 nautical miles out to sea, if the reporting is accurate.

We don't know how quickly the incident was relayed from military to Gardai, or airport authorities to potentially respond.

I am curious how they arrived at the "The drones reportedly traveled at least 17km to the ship" figure - since the vessel has no air search radar.

Was the Sea Eagle EO turret used to record imagery & the laser rangefinder utilised?
 
dBm said:
The Gardai were on land, the naval vessel which reportedly saw the suspected drones, is reported to have been "on the edge of Irish territorial waters", so about 12 nautical miles out to sea, if the reporting is accurate.
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The allegation was the drones flew from Dublin making only the latter parts at sea.

If the LÉ William Butler Yeat has EO/IR then they ought to have video, that said remember Lakenheath had EO/IR and it turned out to be an F-15.
 
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stevewhite said:
https://www.thejournal.ie/drones-analysis-william-butler-yeats-dublin-6893629-Dec2025/
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In the aftermath of the incident, enquiries are being carried out by the Irish Defence Forces. Yesterday, gardaí said they were not investigating but The Journal has learned the Special Detective Unit has since been called in by the Irish Defence Forces and is investigating if there is a criminal aspect to the drones' presence.
What? The story is unknown drones flew illegally through controlled airspace and an explicit no-drone TFR during a military operation. What do the police mean, "investigating if there is a criminal aspect"? If this happened, it would obviously be criminal, right?

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The CASA then held a position near Dublin Bay as an airborne surveillance platform, while a Garda helicopter patrolled closer to the city.
Also I've yet to see anything about either the navy or police force asking the Air Corps surveillance aircraft what they were able to see. It was holding overhead for over an hour as part of the operation. Weird detail for all these articles to leave out. This Journal article goes into detail about the CASA C-295 being there, but it seems like it's just mentioned as an offhand fact.... But it says the C-295 was there specifically for airborne surveillance, and the defense forces say they had unknown aircraft fly through that airspace. So... what did the C-295 see?
 
Kyle Ferriter said:
What? The story is unknown drones flew illegally through controlled airspace and an explicit no-drone TFR during a military operation. What do the police mean, "investigating if there is a criminal aspect"? If this happened, it would obviously be criminal, right?

Also I've yet to see anything about either the navy or police force asking the Air Corps surveillance aircraft what they were able to see. It was holding overhead for over an hour as part of the operation. Weird detail for all these articles to leave out. This Journal article goes into detail about the CASA C-295 being there, but it seems like it's just mentioned as an offhand fact.... But it says the C-295 was there specifically for airborne surveillance, and the defense forces say they had unknown aircraft fly through that airspace. So... what did the C-295 see?
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Given the lack of primary radar coverage, I'd question how much experience any Irish agency has in investigating unauthorised flights through Irish sovereign air space - especially, ones that apparently remained over the sea at all times.

As mentioned previously, it's possible the C295 was acting as a communications relay - we don't know if the sensor suite was utilised at all: it is a very good question. If the sensors were crewed and utilised, and it had sufficient fuel on board - one would wonder why it didn't go and take a a closer look at any potential suspect vessels/radar returns, at least once its primary role had finished and it was returning to base anyway.

https://systematic.com/int/industri...ish-air-corps-advances-sitaware-suite-by-air/
 
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From The Journal, quoted in post #31,
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There were debates onboard the Yeats, it is understood, whether to shoot down the drones but no action was taken as it was feared debris could fall into the populated area on shore.
Wondering if this a bit of journalistic froth or "sailor's stories".
If so- which I suspect is likely- it might call into question other elements of the reporting.

Presumably the 40 crew of LÉ William Butler Yeats were in radio and/or 'phone contact with senior commanders/ civil authorities onshore.
It must be unlikely that decisions to open fire would be decided by the crew, unless e.g. (and wholly hypothetically) Yeats experienced a direct and unexpected attack (which seems improbable in the Irish Sea, in peacetime, and with Ireland being a proudly neutral country).
 
dBm said:
Given the lack of primary radar coverage, I'd question how much experience any Irish agency has in investigating unauthorised flights through Irish sovereign air space - especially, ones that apparently remained over the sea at all times.

As mentioned previously, it's possible the C295 was acting as a communications relay - we don't know if the sensor suite was utilised at all: it is a very good question. If the sensors were crewed and utilised, and it had sufficient fuel on board - one would wonder why it didn't go and take a a closer look at any potential suspect vessels/radar returns, at least once its primary role had finished and it was returning to base anyway.

https://systematic.com/int/industri...ish-air-corps-advances-sitaware-suite-by-air/
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1764979761753.png

Primary Radar heads are located at Cork, Dublin and Shannon Airports.
https://www.airnav.ie/getattachment...344-15b5df95238a/EI_ENR_1_6_EN.pdf?lang=en-IE
Any talk of Ireland lacking primary radar is regarding the lack of the north-west sea coverage and lack of military focus.
 

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