AW139 helicopters operated from Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, County Dublin. In July 2015, the Irish Naval Service began using an Irish-based satellite communications system for its fleet, with new systems and equipment installed on all vessels. The Irish National Space Centre (NSC) at Elfordstown, Midleton, County Cork, and County Wicklow based company Voyager IP provided the contract. Acquisitions and future In October 2010, contracts were signed for two new "offshore patrol vessels" (OPVs). The contract provided an option for a third vessel – which was later taken-up. A fourth vessel in the same class was ordered in June 2016. Constructed by Babcock Marine in the UK to VARD Marine's PV90 design, the first ship, Samuel Beckett, was delivered in May 2014. The second ship, James Joyce, was delivered in 2015. The third, William Butler Yeats, was floated out in March 2016 and delivered later that summer. A fourth, named George Bernard Shaw, was delivered in late 2018, and commissioned in April 2019. These Samuel Beckett-class OPVs replace the older vessel classes, such as the Emer class. A number of these purchases were informed by a Whitepaper on Defence which expected acquisition of three new naval vessels over 10 years from 2015 to 2025. As well as the acquired and ordered OPVs, the whitepaper covered a multi-role vessel (MRV) – which would be potentially enabled for helicopter operations and have a freight carrying capacity – to replace the flagship LÉ Eithne. In 2017, a delegation of Department of Defence (DoD) officials and members of the Defence Forces visited New Zealand to inspect the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) multi-role vessel ; it was suggested that a vessel of this type, capable of accommodating and deploying a full infantry company either by landing craft or helicopter, and with a fully equipped hospital, was what the Defence Forces were looking for, for the type of military and humanitarian missions undertaken by Ireland. Plans expected that LÉ Ciara and LÉ Orla be replaced with similar vessels, but with counter-mine and counter-IED capabilities. In August 2021, the Irish Examiner reported that the DoD was considering acquiring two former RNZN Lake-class inshore patrol vessels. If acquired, it was speculated that these vessels would be based on the east coast and operate mainly in the Irish Sea with the primary role of fisheries protection in light of Brexit. By March 2022, the DoD had confirmed the acquisition of