List of aircraft of the Irish Air Corps
This list identifies the military aircraft which are currently being operated or have formerly been operated by the Irish Air Corps.
![](../I/m/Aw139-275.jpg)
Air Corps AgustaWestland AW139
Active Irish military aircraft
Military aircraft currently in active service with the Irish Air Corps are as follows:
Aircraft | Origin | Type | Variant | In service | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Transport | ||||||
Learjet 45 | United States | VIP / Air ambulance | 1[1] | |||
Maritime patrol | ||||||
CASA CN-235 | Spain | Maritime patrol | MPA 100 | 2[2] | Due to be replaced by two C295 aircraft in 2023.[3][4] | |
Surveillance | ||||||
Pilatus Britten Norman Defender | United Kingdom | Surveillance | 4000 | 1[2] | Flown for the Garda Air Support Unit (GASU) [5] | |
Pilatus PC-12 | Switzerland | ISTAR and utlity | PC-12NG | 1[6] | Three more on order | |
Helicopters | ||||||
Eurocopter EC135 | France | Utility, training and surveillance | P2+/T2 | 4[2] | Two P2+s are flown for the Air Corps and two T2s for the GASU[7][8] | |
AgustaWestland AW139 | Italy | Utility | 6[2] | |||
Trainer | ||||||
Pilatus PC-9 | Switzerland | Training / Close air support | PC-9M | 8 | Armament options are heavy machine gun and rocket pods.[9][10] |
![](../I/m/Pilatus_Pc-9M_Irish_Air_Corps%2C_Baldonnell_(3237218382).jpg)
Several Pilatus PC-9M aircraft at Baldonnel
Retired Irish military aircraft
A few examples of former Air Corps aircraft are retained in the Air Corps Museum in Baldonnel. These include an Avro Anson, An Alouette III and a Fouga Magister. A De Havilland Vampire and a Miles Magister are on display in the National Museum in Collins Barracks (Dublin).[11]
Military aircraft which have been withdrawn from service with the Irish Air Corps include the following:
Fighter and attack aircraft
![](../I/m/Supermarine_Spitfire_T.9_163_IAC_Baldnl_29.07.67_edited-3.jpg)
Air Corps Spitfire T.9 trainer wearing the early post war green colour scheme
![](../I/m/Gladiator_I_Irsko.jpg)
Gloster Gladiator Mk I of the 1st Squadron of the Irish Air Corps
- Bristol F.2B Fighter - 8× 1922-1935[12][13][14]
- Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard - 4× 1922-1929[15]
- RAE S.E.5a - 1× 1922 (destroyed by the IRA during Civil War)
- Bristol F.2B Fighter Mk II - 8× 1925-1935[14]
- Gloster Gladiator I - 4× 1938-1944 (1× crashed 1938, 1× crashed 1944, 2× retired 1943, 12 more ordered but not delivered during The Emergency)[14][16]
- Hawker Hurricane I - 12× 1940-1946 (1× RAF crash-landed in Ireland 1940 and repaired by Air Corps, 11× delivered 1943)[14]
- Hawker Hurricane IIa - 1× 1941-1943 (RAF force-landed in Ireland)
- Hawker Hurricane IIb - 1× 1941-1943 (RAF crash-landed in Ireland)
- Hawker Hurricane IIc - 6× 1945-1947[14]
- Supermarine V.S. 506 Seafire LF.III - 12× 1947-1955[17]
Bombers
- De Havilland DH.9 - 6x [15]
- Fairey Battle TT.I - 1x[14]
- Hawker Hind and Hind Trainer[14]
- Lockheed Hudson I (also used for maritime patrol duties)[18]
Reconnaissance and patrol aircraft
- CASA CN-235M-100
- Cessna FR172H - 8× FR172H, 1× FR172K. Five FR172H remained in service until 2019.
- Fairey IIIF Mk II
- Supermarine V.S. 236 Walrus I - 3x from 1939[19][14]
Transport and liaison aircraft
![](../I/m/Avro_652A_Anson_C.19_141_IAC_Baldl_29.07.67_edited-4.jpg)
An Avro 652A Anson which operated from 1946 to 1962
- Avro 652A Anson I and C19[14]
- Avro 626 Prefect (also served as a navigation trainer)
- Hawker Siddeley HS.125-600B and -700B
- Beechcraft Super King Air 200T[20]
- De Havilland DH.84 Dragon 2
- De Havilland DH.104 Dove Mk 4, Mk 5, Mk 7, and Mk 8A[20]
- Grumman G1159A Gulfstream III (leased)
- Gulfstream IV [21]
- Hawker Hector
- Martinsyde Type A Mk II
- Vickers Type 193 Vespa IV and Type 208 Vespa V
- Westland Lysander II - x6 [14][22]
Trainer aircraft
![](../I/m/Newtownards_Air_Show%2C_June_1990_(01).jpg)
Percival Provost Mk 51 in Air Corps colours
- Avro 504K - 6× 1922-1932[23]
- Avro 621 Tutor[24]
- Avro 631 Cadet (also used for coastal patrol duties)
- Avro 636
- De Havilland DH.60 Cirrus I Moth
- De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk T.20 and T.22A[20]
- De Havilland DH.115 Vampire T.55[20] - 6× 1956-1976
- Fouga CM-170-2 Super Magister - 6× 1975-1999[20]
- Hunting Percival Provost T.51 and T.53
- Miles M.14A Magister[14]
- Miles M.25 Martinet TT.I
- Miles M.9A Master I and M.19 Master II[14]
- Hunting Percival Provost T.51 and T.53
- SIAI-Marchetti SF-260D and SF-260WE Warrior
- Supermarine V.S. 509 Spitfire T.9 - 6× 1951-1961
Helicopters
![](../I/m/A%C3%A9rospatiale_SA_316B_at_RNAS_Yeovilton.jpg)
Air Corps Alouette III. Retired in 2007
- Aérospatiale Alouette III - replaced by AW139s and retired in September 2007[25][26]
- Aérospatiale SA330J Puma - leased from Aerospatiale for 2 years during the early 1980s[27][28]
- Aérospatiale SA342L Gazelle - retired December 2005 + sold
- Aérospatiale SA365Fi Dauphin II - retired + sold
- Sikorsky S-61N - Previously operated by IAC for Search & Rescue/Coast Guard. Subsequently returned to CHC Ireland who operated it in a similar capacity for the IRCG.
- Eurocopter Twin Squirrel AS355N - Operated by IAC for Garda Air Support Unit until replaced by second EC135-T in January 2008.[29]
gollark: Technically, this is a political tangent.
gollark: Ah yes, simple harmonic motion. (also a ridiculous simplification and probably not true, but still)
gollark: Also, we totally should do RCTs on countries.
gollark: It is:- inevitable- inescapable- ineluctable
gollark: I see.
References
Notes
- "Learjet 45". military.ie. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- "World Air Forces 2020". Flightglobal Insight. 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- "Irish Department of Defence orders two Airbus C295 aircraft". navyrecognition.com. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
- "Dublin, Prague bolster Airbus C295 backlog". flightglobal.com. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
- "Pilatus Britten Norman Defender". military.ie. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- "Air Corps to Take Delivery of Pilatus PC-12 Today". flyinginireland.com. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- "EC135 T2". military.ie. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- "EC135 P2". military.ie. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- "Fleet - Pilatus PC-9M Statistics". Military.ie (Official Defence Forces website).
- IrishAirPics.com - Description of live fire training exercise
- Tony Canavan (January 2007). "Museum Eye - Soldiers and chiefs, the Irish at war - National Museum of Ireland Collins Barracks, Dublin". Reviews. History Ireland. 15 (1).
- Byrne 1980, p. 52.
- O'Malley 2010, p. 57.
- MacCarron 2012, p. 20.
- MacCarron 2012, p. 18.
- "Irish Army Air Corps use of the Gloster Gladiator during the Second World War". Håkan Gustavsson. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- Byrne 1980, p. 62.
- McIvor 1994, p. 83.
- O'Malley 2010, p. 148.
- "Air Corps Museum Collection (1918-2004)". Irish Military Archives. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- "Government jet sold to US company". RTE. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
- O'Malley 2010, p. 205.
- McIvor 1994, p. 42.
- "Military Archives - Image Database - IE/MA/ACPS/GPN/001 - Glass plate negatives of a ground image of an Avro 621". MilitaryArchives.ie. Defence Forces. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- "Alouettes set for final missions". Irish Times. 28 July 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- "New Wings for the Irish Air Corps". Air-Scene UK. May 2008. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- "Up, up and away . . . why our Air Corps are getting plenty of lift". Independent News & Media. 4 July 2000. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- "N86-1981- Air Corp Helicopters - Air Corps Takes Delivery Of Puma Helicoptor - July 1981". Irish Photo Archive. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- "Second Garda helicopter takes to air". Irish Times. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
Sources
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aircraft of the Irish Air Corps. |
- Byrne, Liam (1980). History of Aviation in Ireland. Blackwater Press. ISBN 9780905471105.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- O'Malley, Michael C (2010). Military Aviation in Ireland, 1921-45. University College Dublin Press. ISBN 9781906359485.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- MacCarron, Donal (2012). The Irish Defence Forces since 1922. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781780963914.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- McIvor, Aidan (1994). A History of the Irish Naval Service. Irish Academic Press. ISBN 9780716525233.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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