Anti-Israel boycotters scored another own goal, as the Irish prime minister’s plane cannot land in fog after his government forced the removal of an Israeli-made aviation system.
Ireland’s government, in keeping with its 2024 ban on Israeli defense technology, ordered the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault to deliver its new $61 million executive jet without the built-in Israeli navigation system designed for low-visibility and fog.
“The new government jet may struggle to land in fog and bad weather because it was ordered without a navigational system which is made by an Israeli company,” Irish newspaper The Journal reported Monday. The 14-passenger Dassault Falcon 6X is meant “for transport of ministers and the Taoiseach (prime minister),” the daily noted.
FalconEye, developed by Israel’s Elbit Systems, is critical for navigating Ireland’s notoriously foggy and bad weather. “Mounted in the aircraft’s nose, FalconEye combines infrared cameras and advanced sensors to provide pilots with enhanced visibility during approaches in poor weather or darkness,” the technology news outlet C-Tech explained. “Dassault says the system gives crews ‘unprecedented all-weather situational awareness’ and can enable landings in conditions that would otherwise force aircraft to divert.”
The Telegraph reported Tuesday:
The Irish taoiseach’s [prime minister’s] jet could struggle to land in fog after it was bought without an Israeli navigation system he banned over the war in Gaza.
The €53m (£45m) Dassault Falcon 6X is usually equipped with a FalconEye system, made by Israeli defence company Elbit Systems.
But Micheál Martin’s government was forced to purchase the aircraft from a French firm without it after Ireland blacklisted all Israeli defence technology in 2024.
Kevin Phipps, a former Irish Air Corps pilot, said the missing system provided “the ability to land in fog when other aircraft would have to divert to another airport”.
For the Israeli system to be included in the Falcon 6X, the Irish government would have to enter a written agreement with Elbit.
Procurement officials in Ireland decided this was a step too far for Ireland and asked that the system not be included, the Irish Journal reported.
However, four new Irish air corps helicopters were still delivered with flight systems manufactured by Elbit as the aircraft would not be operational without them. (…)
The Dassault Falcon 6X was introduced in December 2025 to replace the government’s Lear jet. (…)
The jet was manufactured by Dassault Aviation, a French aerospace company. It describes the FalconEye as a system of cameras and sensors providing “unprecedented all-weather situational awareness, day or night, in any phase of flight”.
The equipment is fed to a display in the cockpit used by the pilots as they approach landing.
The Irish government, a coalition of Green and center-right parties, is leading the push for the anti-Israel boycott within the European Union. The Irish boycott goes beyond technology to include academics, sports, and entertainment.
While appeasing the country’s Islamists and leftists with publicized boycotts, the Irish military continues to induct defense systems that run on Israeli technology. “Despite the government’s policy, several other aircraft recently ordered for the Irish military contain Israeli technology that could not easily be excluded,” Israel’s Ynetnews observed. “Four Airbus helicopters being built for the Irish Air Corps include Helionix avionics developed by Airbus with technology supplied by Elbit. Those systems are considered integral to the helicopters and cannot be removed without changing the aircraft’s basic configuration.”
It is worth noting that Germany deploys Israeli-made Arrow missile defense systems to safeguard EU airspace.
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