Irish police bought Israeli Sentrycs anti-drone systems via a US supplier

Police in Ireland have acquired counter-drone systems developed and manufactured in Israel, even though the Irish government has said the country would not purchase Israeli technology, according to an investigation by the Irish news site The Journal. Israel Hayom reported that The Journal published its findings on Saturday, describing the equipment as drone-jamming gear made in Israel.

The systems come from Sentrycs, a company with its roots in Tel Aviv. Ynet reported that people with knowledge of the matter said the purchase went through an American supplier, while the equipment itself was designed and built in Israel. Those people described it as the best equipment available on the market.

What the police said about the equipment

The Hebrew-language outlet News.co.il, summarising The Journal's reporting, wrote that a police source told the Irish publication that the systems were the best that could be bought. According to News.co.il, the same source added that in this field it is difficult to find advanced technology that has no Israeli involvement. The outlet also reported that the systems are used to secure sensitive and international events, though its report is cut off at that point and does not specify which events.

The reports characterise the equipment in slightly different terms. Israel Hayom refers to it as drone-jamming equipment. News.co.il describes systems for detecting, monitoring and neutralising drones, and its headline speaks of both interception and jamming. Ynet calls it advanced equipment against drones. None of the reports gives a technical breakdown of the specific products bought.

What counter-drone technology does

Counter-drone systems are designed to deal with small unmanned aircraft that could pose a risk to crowds, dignitaries or critical sites. In general terms, such systems first detect a drone in the area and then try to stop it, for example by disrupting the signals that link it to its operator. Police forces in many countries use them to protect large public gatherings and visits by foreign officials, which fits News.co.il's account of how the Irish police use the equipment.

Israel has a large defence and security technology sector, and Israeli companies are active in the counter-drone market. The police source quoted via News.co.il framed the purchase in those terms: as a matter of what equipment is available, rather than a political choice.

The Irish government's stance on Israeli technology

The reports present the purchase as being at odds with a stated Irish policy. Israel Hayom describes a government declaration that Ireland would not buy Israeli technology. News.co.il refers to earlier statements by the Irish government that it would not acquire security technologies from Israel. Ynet's headline frames the policy as Ireland having announced a cutting of ties, and all three outlets describe it as a boycott.

None of the three reports sets out when that declaration was made, what exactly it covers, or whether it applies to purchases made through third-country suppliers. That last point is central to the story, because the Sentrycs systems reached the Irish police by way of an American vendor rather than directly from the Israeli company.

An earlier case involving a government jet

This is not the first time The Journal has reported on Irish procurement and Israeli technology. Israel Hayom noted that in August, The Journal revealed Ireland had decided against buying specialised sensors for a new government aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 6X jet costing €53 million. The excerpt available to us is truncated, and it does not state the reason for that decision or say where the sensors would have come from.

About the outlets

The Journal is an Irish online news publication, and it is the original source of the investigation. The three reports used here are Israeli: Ynet is the news site of the Yedioth Ahronoth group, Israel Hayom is a national daily with an English-language edition, and News.co.il is a Hebrew news service that published its account on the Telegram messaging platform. All three base their accounts on The Journal's reporting rather than on their own access to Irish officials.

What the reports do not say

• No response from the Irish government or from the police leadership to The Journal's findings has been reported.
• The reports do not say when the systems were purchased, how many were bought, or how much they cost.
• The American supplier is not named, and there is no reported comment from Sentrycs.
• It is not stated whether the boycott policy was meant to cover Israeli products bought through suppliers in other countries.
• The reason Ireland declined the jet sensors in August is not given in the material available.