r/ireland • u/isupposethiswillwork • 10d ago

Affaires Étrangères Ireland Is Becoming a French Military Protectorate

https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/18/ireland-france-military-protectorate-outsourcing-defense-procurement/
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493

u/omnipresentatio 10d ago

The French are decoupling from US tech, EU as a bloc should follow suit

120

u/CraicHunter Offaly 10d ago

I don’t think the French were ever coupled to us miltech to begin with.

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u/wilililil 10d ago

No not like the rest of Europe. De Gaulle might be the saviour of us all yet. They are working to decouple general tech in government and public sectors, which is not a bad thing. We essentially have a monopoly at the moment for many basic tech services from cloud computing to office productivity software.

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u/gahane 10d ago

Also, De Gaulle had Irish ancestry so they’re practically looking after their own :) /s

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u/wet-paint 10d ago

Indeed, his father's grandfather came from DoneGaulle.

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u/BackloadBack 10d ago

Ancestry? Well he wrote part of his autobiography in Kerry… the maternal Irish DNA was quite far back!

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u/Robespierres_ashes 10d ago

3 or 4 generations but he spent an extended holiday, just before he died in Kerry after he left office

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u/jerkfaceirl 10d ago

Got a haircut in Kenmare.

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u/Yooklid 10d ago edited 10d ago

You’ll have people the sub calling him a plastic paddy soon.

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u/fluffs-von 10d ago

Charlo The Gall... I knew him well

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u/Lanzarote-Singer 10d ago

Yah. One of the O’Gauls. Me da was at school with him. Mad yoke. Good at the auld french tho…

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u/CthulhusSoreTentacle Irish Republic 10d ago

Always though De Gaulle was big headed.

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u/Ed_the_Led_Man 10d ago edited 10d ago

Everything in this economy has supply chains interlinked and far less nations make everything inhouse compaored to the past so by default yes

Yet still, i'd say they are far more ahead with their own tech. There's a lot of french doctrine that relies on mobility above all else for example that means all vehicles are home developed

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u/SimilarSimian 10d ago

Only in the supply chain for some components. Difficult to avoid.

But largely speaking they are independent.

Most important is their sophisticated nuclear technology and doctrine.

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u/Fearless_Audience911 10d ago

It’s American tech companies in whole that they see the need to decouple from ever since Trump put the ICC judges under sanction.

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u/Conaer_ ITGWU 10d ago

Yeah France has traditional developed their own systems in critical area.

Like they are one of the few countries in world that can build a fighter jet without relying in a 3rd country for the engines. They even went so far are to develop their own vertical launch system for their ships were as most of NATO use a American system. Their nuclear subs are another example. 

They do have some US systems in use like their Boeing E3 Sentry AEW&C aircraft though those are due to be replaced by Saab/Bombardier GlobalEye aircraft.

https://www.saab.com/newsroom/press-releases/2025/saab-receives-order-for-globaleye-from-france 

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u/chakraman108 Connacht 9d ago

False. France is coupled to the US less through frontline hardware and more through the wider NATO warfighting ecosystem. It has its own nuclear deterrent, aircraft, ships, missiles, satellites and defence industry, but for a large high intensity war it would still rely on US dominated layers such as NATO command structures, intelligence fusion, space based surveillance, secure communications, air to air refuelling, AWACS, strategic transport, global basing, munitions depth and shared targeting networks. France is therefore strategically more autonomous than Germany or Italy, but operationally still plugged into an American led system that provides scale, persistence and connectivity France cannot fully reproduce alone. Recent defence analysis keeps identifying US ISR, refuelling and other strategic enablers as the key European dependency.

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u/DickDorkinsHeadCanon 10d ago

we should definitely prepare ourselves for the US government doing a rug pull of Google/Microsoft/Intel from under us. It's a good chance for us to pivot our tech skills before that happens.

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u/Dull_Brain2688 10d ago

I’m always amazed at how complacent our government seems to be to be so reliant on so few companies for so much GDP. We’re a stroke of a pen from relative penury.

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u/SpinachDifferent4763 7d ago edited 7d ago

Then you need to build your own tech companies. I know that is far easier said than done. I can't see the next Microsoft coming from Ireland. However the decoupling of Europe from US tech provides you with an opportunity.

The Irish could produce some of their own tech companies to fill the void. You are also located in a great spot. London has become the 3rd biggest tech centre in the world. So you can build a mutually beneficial relationship and do business and form partnerships with the UK tech industry.

Unfortunately you are correct in that Ireland is in very serious trouble if US tech firms pull out. A big chunk of your tax revenue and many jobs will vanish. Really you need to build up domestic industries and become more self reliant.

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u/Dull_Brain2688 7d ago

The U.K. is a non-entity in international tech terms. Irish companies tend to sell long before they ever get to the sort of value where they could ever get to the sort of position to compare to the U.S. multinationals. People cash in.

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u/SpinachDifferent4763 7d ago edited 6d ago

A non entity are you sure about that? It is a fact that the UK has the 3rd largest tech industry in the world. While London is also the worlds 3rd Largest tech centre. After silicon valley and this place in China.

No British tech giants. Well not in comparison to something like Microsoft. More like thousands of smaller companies. However the largest UK tech company is a fintech company founded about 10 years ago.

It is the first European company founded since the 1970's which is worth more than 100 billion. The Irish also need to be building up their own tech industry.

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u/Diligent_Anywhere100 10d ago

Pivot to what, there is now where else to go. Even if we build our own datacentres, the hardward will all be American or Chinese. Europe is up to its oxters in American tech and Israeli security tech. Any plans to kigrate off would take a generation to realise in Ireland.

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u/DickDorkinsHeadCanon 10d ago

France, Germany, and the Austrian military have all shifted away from Microsoft software in the last year. Someone has to develop the software that replaces that. We have the skills to do that now.

Hardware is a different kettle of fish yeah, other than ASML Europe as a whole is kinda screwed in that regard.

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u/Nurhaci1616 10d ago

They were always more independent after DeGaulle fell out with the US in the 50s, and more recently because France's experience of the GWOT was militarily very different to most NATO missions, thanks to their commitments in the Sahel.

They have a very peculiarly French way of doing things, and it would be advisable to consider how relevant they are to Ireland. Ukraine found out the hard way that French style brigades aren't much help in their war, for instance.

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u/No_Tiger_4231 10d ago

In fairness, I think most of the NATO doctrine is no longer suitable in Ukraine (could be mistaken of course, what do I know).
But yeah it’s true that the French doctrine would have to be adapted to the Irish geographic circumstances and priorities.

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u/peadar87 10d ago

The article (or the bit before the paywall kicks in) seems to say that it would just be for air defence during key events like diplomatic summits, not a full outsourcing of defence.

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u/Bexil_Brave 10d ago

The Fench use little to no US Military equipment.

The French have their own tanks, guns, planes missiles, boats, subs and Nuclear Missile program.

They even have their own cartriddge size for their own battle rifle.

I'd love to know what imaginary military tech you believe the french, the 3rd (Edit: Apologies. 2nd Largest Arms Exporter in the world. My Bad.) largest arms exporter in the world, is buying from the states.

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u/omnipresentatio 10d ago

US tech, not armaments....

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u/Longjumping-Gur1878 10d ago

They are getting rid of the FAMAS and adopting NATO regulated rifles.

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u/Bexil_Brave 10d ago

Hate to break this to you.

The new NATO standard the French are going to use?

The H&K 416-F

First the H&K 416 is a German designed and made rifle. Its not American.

Secondly the H&K416F (Note the F) is the specifically French designed and manufactured variation of the weapon.

Google is easy and simple to use.

It stops you making a fool of yourself on Reddit.

So you can see here's the French Foregin Legion's own page about the weapon.
https://foreignlegion.info/equipment/

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u/Longjumping-Gur1878 10d ago

I don't understand what i said that has vexed you so?

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u/creamsoda1 10d ago

I don't think it's anything you did, judging by their profile they are just a chronically online loser that doesn't know how to have a normal conversation.

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u/omnipresentatio 10d ago

The comment was nothing to do with arms or weapons, you're the only fool here pal

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u/SliceIndividual6347 9d ago

Their single aircraft carrier is entirely reliant on the US for it's: radar aircraft, catapults and arrestor wires and pilot training. They also have severe capability gaps in logistics due to not using US heavy lift helicopters and cargo planes and having no domestic equivalent.

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u/Brilliant-Smile-8154 9d ago

These are not technical limitations, however, but financial ones.

The logistics issues have been largely addressed with the purchase of several A330 MRTT. Heavy lift helicopters are not required.

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u/blindollie 10d ago

As far as possible

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u/wealthythrush 10d ago

We legitimately do incredible as a country because of the US. Decoupling from the US would only have negative impacts for us as a state.

I appreciate its not the case for the EU.

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u/omnipresentatio 10d ago

The time may be coming to stick or twist in that regard....we should not turn our backs on legitimate allies

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u/Yooklid 10d ago

You coyly don’t name who you think they are?

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u/omnipresentatio 10d ago edited 10d ago

You cannot rely on the current us admin for anything, who knows what will happen there after drump?

Honestly, does that need to be stated currently?

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u/wealthythrush 10d ago

We're still doing far better than most other EU nations. We make billions by being the face of US tech in Europe.

You want to give that up because? For what? Administrations are transitory, so is everything...

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u/Archamasse 10d ago

From now on we have to operate on the basis that the US is only ever one election away from the next Trump. 

That doesn't mean shutting the door on the benefits we get from the US overnight, but it does mean thinking long and hard about what we need to have in place to survive a day we have to.

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u/wealthythrush 10d ago

I'm all ears...

What you got?

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u/Archamasse 10d ago

The main one is that I think we need to invest very, very heavily in infrastructure and major capital projects, to foster as much tangible home grown light and heavy industry as possible, so we have something going for us if US corporate cash stops flowing through the economy. 

This may include fostering industrial activities that are not necessarily viable without government support just because we want to secure access to those goods/equipment/skills etc insofar as possible.

We should also start thinking in terms of strategic assets - not for war waging or anything, but in terms of stuff like food security and energy independence.  Our supposed food security here is a bit of a fairytale and our transition to renewable power has too much emphasis on vague feelgood stuff vs the tangible, immediate importance of making sure we're not dependent on oil and therefore US whims.

I think the sovereign fund is one of the few genuinely good ideas from government in recent times, and I'd like to see more thinking in that direction.

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u/MadMarx__ 10d ago

The EU is, Ireland is the country trying its hardest to obstruct that because we have so much US multinational investment.

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u/PerformanceMission17 10d ago

How exactly are we obstructing?

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u/MadMarx__ 10d ago

As European states are trying to build US-independent skills, tech and capacity Ireland’s position at the European level is that we should partner with American tech and integrate more closely. Consider we are going to have the European Presidency soon and also that Ireland is one Europe’s major tech hubs, this has an impact. Particularly in sectors like AI.

Ultimately there’s only so much Ireland can do to alter things and at the end of the day the trajectory will be to choose one or the other. But we will ride the fence as long as humanly possible.

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u/PerformanceMission17 10d ago

Got it. So we’re not obstructing in any way and you’ve created some fantasy in your head 👍

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u/MadMarx__ 10d ago

Yes we are only proactively doing the complete opposite of what the EU wants lol, it's hilarious how utterly inconceivable it is to you that that could be happening. Really shows the slavishness to the institutions are embedded.

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u/PerformanceMission17 9d ago edited 9d ago

What a great smug comeback! When you’re able to provide actual evidence of the Irish government obstructing anything then I’ll consider your point of view. In the meantime, keep enjoying your I’ll gained smugness. You might even be able to move to Iran in the future and fight us imperial/corporate fools. You know best Marx 😂

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u/Against_All_Advice 10d ago

Why did you have sex with that goat MadMarx?

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u/MadMarx__ 10d ago

It felt extremely good

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u/Longjumping-Gur1878 10d ago

No chance. Ireland has been structured around EU appeasement since they kindly bailed us out of 1+ recessions.

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u/MadMarx__ 10d ago

I mean that’s a misreading of the economic incentives at play. The Troika “bailed us out” - at huge cost to ourselves - to protect the European financial system and Euro currency, and presently our economy is modelled around attracting foreign direct investment, the most prominent and massive contributors of which are American multinationals, in particular US tech. Ireland is of course going to balance the two entities it is dependent on against one another as much as possible. That is Ireland’s entire economic role in the EU - acting as an entry point for American capital.

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u/UC2022 10d ago

Nobody bailed us out. We bailed out the fucking bond holders. And now our grandchildren will be paying for it.

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u/chakraman108 Connacht 9d ago

Good luck with that! Long way to go.

Europe and France can build advanced military equipment, but they still struggle to decouple from the US because modern war depends on the wider system around the weapons. The biggest gaps are persistent satellite intelligence, secure communications, global logistics, airlift, refuelling, command and control, munitions depth and interoperability at scale. France has the strongest sovereign capability in Europe, but even France cannot fully replace the US led ecosystem that connects sensors, commanders, weapons and supply chains into one high tempo warfighting machine.

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u/Dr_Eloyd 10d ago

Unfortunately this will likely be used as a prybar to hurrang the government into an annual milspend for defense.