The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) announced on 21 January that it had received direct notification from the Russian Navy that the service intends to carry out live artillery and missile firing to the southwest of Ireland at the beginning of February.
“There will be a need to issue a notice to commercial pilots to warn them of this issue and there will be a closure of airspace,” it stated.
While exact details were not specified by the IAA, it indicated that the area was 240 km off the County Cork coast and was relatively small. Information of the notification leaked on social media shows that the area will extend up to 11,000 m in altitude (approximately 33,000 feet).
The area is in international airspace and is therefore not a penetration of any sovereign-controlled areas.
The IAA announcement follows a Russian Military of Defence (MoD) announcement on 20 January that, “In accordance with the training plan for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for 2022, a series of exercises will be held in January–February in the areas of responsibility of all fleets of the Russian Navy.”
It continued, “The main focus of the exercises is to work out the actions of the forces of the navy and aerospace forces to protect Russian national interests in the World Ocean, as well as to counter military threats to the Russian Federation from sea and ocean directions. The exercises will cover the waters of the seas adjacent to Russian territory, as well as operationally important areas of the World Ocean. Separate exercises will take place in the Mediterranean, North, Okhotsk Seas, in the north-eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean, and in the Pacific Ocean.”
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