This list identifies the military aircraft which are currently being operated or have formerly been operated by 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.
Military aircraft currently in active service with the Irish Air Corps are as follows:
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Variant | In service | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trainer / Light Attack | |||||
| Pilatus PC-9 | Switzerland | Trainer / CAS | PC-9M | 8 [1] | Can be armed with machine guns or rocket pods. [1] |
| Transport | |||||
| Learjet 45 | United States | VIP / Air ambulance | 1 [2] | ||
| Maritime patrol | |||||
| CASA CN-235 | Spain | Maritime Patrol | MPA 100 | 2 [3] | To be replaced by two CN-295 MPA in 2023 [4] |
| CASA C-295 | Spain | Maritime Patrol | MPA | 2 [5] [6] | |
| Surveillance | |||||
| Pilatus PC-12 | Switzerland | ISTAR / Utility | PC-12NG | 4 [7] | |
| Britten-Norman Defender | United Kingdom | Police Air Support | 4000 | 1 [8] | Flown for the Garda Air Support Unit (GASU) [8] |
| Helicopters | |||||
| Eurocopter EC135 | France | Utility / Training | P2+/T2 | 2 [9] / 2 [10] | Of which the T2s are flown for the GASU [11] |
| AgustaWestland AW139 | Italy | Utility | 6 [12] | ||
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). [13]
Military aircraft which have been withdrawn from service with the Irish Air Corps include the following:
British military aircraft designations are used to refer to aircraft types and variants operated by the armed forces of the United Kingdom.
Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of only two such major British companies in the 1960s. In 1977, Hawker Siddeley became a founding component of the nationalised British Aerospace (BAe). Hawker Siddeley also operated in other industrial markets, such as locomotive building and diesel engine manufacture. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove, also known as simply JHC FS Aldergrove, is a British military base located 4.4 miles (7.1 km) south of Antrim, Northern Ireland and 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Belfast, and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is sometimes referred to simply as Aldergrove which is the name of a nearby hamlet.
The Air Corps is the air force of the Republic of Ireland. Organisationally a military branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland, the Air Corps utilises a fleet of fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft to carry out a variety of duties in conjunction with the Irish Army, Irish Naval Service and Garda Síochána. The headquarters of the Air Corps is located at the Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, Dublin. The Air Corps has an active establishment of 886 personnel. Like other components of the Defence Forces, it has struggled to maintain strength and as of April 2023 has only 711 active personnel. Unlike the Army or the Naval Service, the Air Corps does not maintain a reserve component.
Number 32 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates in the VIP and general air transport roles from RAF Northolt in Greater London.
The HS.404 is an autocannon originally designed by and produced by the Swiss arm of the Spanish/Swiss company Hispano-Suiza in the mid-1930s. Production was later moved to the French arm of Hispano-Suiza.
No. 118 Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Air Force. Originally formed in 1918, it served as a fighter squadron in the Second World War, flying Spitfires and Mustangs. It flew jet fighters as part of RAF Germany in the 1950s, and Bristol Sycamore helicopters in Northern Ireland before finally disbanding in 1962.
The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum is an aviation museum located at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Mount Hope, Ontario, Canada. The museum has 47 military jets and propeller-driven aircraft on display.
Royal Air Force Montrose or more simply RAF Montrose is a former Royal Air Force station in Forfarshire in Scotland. It became the first operational military aerodrome to be established in the United Kingdom on 26 February 1913.
The North East Land, Sea and Air Museums (NELSAM), formerly the North East Aircraft Museum, is a volunteer-run aviation museum situated on the site of the former RAF Usworth/Sunderland Airport, between Washington and Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. The museum has the largest aviation collection between Yorkshire and Scotland and houses over 30 aircraft and a wide collection of aero engines. The museum also has a small collection of other items such as weaponry, vehicles and other historical exhibits.
The Cameroon Air Force is the air force of Cameroon. The Cameroon Air Force, along with the Cameroon Army, the Cameroon Navy, the National Gendarmerie, and the Presidential Guard make up the Cameroonian Armed Forces.
No. 253 Squadron was a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force between 1918 and 1947. Originally formed in 1918, it served in WW1 flying coastal reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols. Later in WW2 it took part in the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain, and then fought in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations in Algeria. The squadron was disbanded on 16 May 1947, and briefly revived as a night-fighter squadron from 18 April 1955 to 2 September 1957.
The Hangar Flight Museum, formerly known as the Aero Space Museum of Calgary, is a museum located south of Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
RAAF Museum is the official museum of the Royal Australian Air Force, the second oldest air force in the world, located at RAAF Williams Point Cook, Victoria, Australia which is the oldest continuously operating Military Air Base in the world. The museum displays aircraft of significance to the RAAF from its inception as the Australian Flying Corps to the present. At the direction of Air Marshal Sir George Jones, the RAAF Museum was formed in 1952 and fell under the administration of Headquarters Point Cook until 1988 when it became a separate unit of the RAAF. It is currently overseen by the force's Air Training Wing.
The South African Air Force Museum houses exhibits and restores material related to the history of the South African Air Force. The museum is divided into three locations, AFB Swartkop outside Pretoria, AFB Ysterplaat in Cape Town and at the Port Elizabeth airport.
Royal Air Force Manorbier, or more simply RAF Manorbier, was a Royal Air Force airfield near Manorbier, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The site was first used in 1933 as a mixed civilian/military airfield and was the base for 'Y' Flight of No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF in 1937, using de Havilland DH.82 Queen Bee unmanned radio-controlled target drone. The airfield was passed on to the War Office in September 1946.
The Aviation Heritage Museum is a museum created and maintained by the RAAF Association of Western Australia. It houses many military and civilian aircraft, aircraft replicas and aircraft engines, of types that have served in the Royal Australian Air Force or have relevance to aviation in Western Australia. It is located in the suburb of Bull Creek in Perth, Western Australia.
787 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm which disbanded in January 1956. It formed in March 1941, at HMS Heron, RNAS Yeovilton, out of 804 Naval Air Squadron as a Fleet Fighter Development Unit. Almost every type of fighter was received by the squadron for testing and evaluation for naval use. A move to RAF Duxford in June 1941 saw it become the Naval Air Fighting Development Unit, attached to the Royal Air Force's Air Fighting Development Unit. The squadron undertook rocket projectile test, continuous development of fighter tactics and even helping Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance squadrons in evading fighter attack. Post Second World War it continued its trials task and also undertook Rebecca radar trials and ASH, US-built air-to-surface vessel radar trials.
On December 31st 2005 the last flight of Air Corps Gazelle 241 over Casement Aerodrome marked the end of 25 years of service
[T]he Government is formally withdrawing the Air Corps from all helicopter search-and-rescue today [..] and will be relieved by the contract company CHC Helicopters in a week's time [..] The Sikorsky S-61 helicopter leased for the Air Corps in Sligo was returned several weeks ago
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