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The 'Irish Air Corps' (in Irish: ''Aer Chór na hÉireann'') provides the air defence function of Oglaigh na hÉireann (the Irish Defence Forces)^[1], in support of the Army and Naval Service, together with such other roles as may be assigned by the Government (e.g. Search and Rescue, Ministerial Air Transport Service). The principal airbase is Casement Aerodrome located at Baldonnel.

Contents

History

Origins

World War 2

Post-war years

Expansion

Recent history

Aircraft

Current

Recent equipment changes

Ranks

Officers

Non-commissioned

See also

References

External link

History

Origins

The origin of the Air Corps goes back to the Anglo-Irish Treaty talks of 1921, when a Martinsyde Type A Mark II biplane was purchased and put on 24-hour standby at Croydon airport in order to allow Michael Collins to escape back to Ireland if the talks failed. In the event it was not needed for this mission, and it became the first Irish military aircraft, arriving in June 1922.
By the end of 1922 the Air Corps comprised ten aircraft (including 6 Bristol F2B fighters from the First World War), and about 400 men.
During the 1930s funds were not plentiful, but in 1938 four Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters were delivered - a further eight were ordered but were embargoed by the outbreak of the Second World War, referred to in neutral Ireland as "The Emergency".

World War 2

During World War II (or The Emergency) there is no record of Air Corps planes engaging any belligerent aircraft, although dozens of escaped barrage balloons were shot down. 163 belligerent aircraft force-landed in Ireland during the war, and in this way the Air Corps acquired a Lockheed Hudson, a Fairey Battle, and three Hawker Hurricanes.
For a short time an order was given to Irish fighter pilots to use their aircraft to block the runways of airfields. They were then to use rifles and shoot at any invaders.
The Hurricane gave the Air Corps a proven modern fighter, and at one stage no fewer than 20 flew in Irish colours.

Post-war years

After the war, the Hurricanes were replaced by Supermarine Seafires and a few two-seat Spitfire trainers. The de Havilland Dove became the Corps' transport aircraft. The jet age arrived on 30 June 1956 when the Corps took delivery of a de Havilland Vampire T.55 trainer.

Expansion

In 1963 the Corps took delivery of its first helicopters, Alouette IIIs, of which seven remained in service at the start of the 21st century. In their time, 3,300 people have been assisted by these helicopters in their Search and Rescue and air ambulance roles.
In the mid-1970s the expansion of the Ministerial Air Transport Service (MATS) following Ireland's accession to the European Economic Community (now the European Union) led to the acquisition of the Corps' first business jet, a BAe 125-700.
In 1975 several Fouga Magister CM-170 jet aircraft were purchased secondhand from France. They were used for training, for the Light Strike Squadron and for the Silver Swallows display team. They were withdrawn from service in 1998 and not replaced, leaving the Irish Air Corps without any jet fighter aircraft.

Recent history

As part of its obligations to the European Union, Ireland is responsible for patrolling 132,000 square miles (342,000 km²) of sea. In order to do this, the Air Corps employed three Beech King Air turboprops, later replaced by two CASA CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft.
In its MATS role, following Ireland's assumption of the EU Presidency the Corps leased a Grumman Gulfstream III which in 1990 became the first Irish military aircraft to circumnavigate the world, conveying the Foreign Affairs Minister to Ottawa, Anchorage, Sapporo, Brunei, Kuching, Bombay, Dubai and Rome before returning home. In more recent times, a Grumman Gulfstream IV has been acquired, in addition to a Learjet 45.
On March 18 2004 eight Pilatus PC-9M trainers were officially accepted by the Air Corps. On April 21 of that year the first three of the aircraft arrived. The Pilatus aircraft were the first Air Corps aircraft to break Air Corps tradition when the GOC (General Officer Commanding - a Brigadier General) decided to have the Pilatus tail numbers in the 260 series, when the most recent aircraft to be purchased (the Bombardier Learjet 45) had the tail number 258. This meant that the tail number 259 was skipped. The pilatus is the first Air Corps aircraft to have ejector seats since the Vampire.
Two new Eurocopter EC135P2 Light Utility Helicopters were delivered to the Irish Air Corps (IAC) in November 2005. More recently, the IAC took delivery of new Utility Helicopters that will facilitate a substantial increase in capabilities to the IAC. The first of four AgustaWestland AW139 Utility Helicopters (with an option for an additional two), were handed over to the IAC at Agusta's facility in Milan in November 2006. Two of the AW139 initially remained in Milan to provide training for Irish pilots before being flown to Ireland in December 2006. These helicopters are another first for the IAC as they are delivered with the capability to carry door mounted 7.62mm GPMG (General Purpose Machine Guns).

Aircraft

Current

! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Aircraft
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Origin
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Type
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Versions
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|In service^[2]
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Notes
|-----
| Aérospatiale Alouette III || || utility helicopter || SA 316B || 7 ||
|-----
| AgustaWestland AW139 || || utility helicopter || || 4 || 2 more on order
|-----
| Beechcraft King Air || || utility transport || King Air 200 || 1 ^[3] ||
|-----
| CASA CN-235 || || transport/patrol || || 2 ||
|-----
| Cessna 172 || || utility || FR172H || 5 || built by Reims
|-----
| Eurocopter EC 135 || || utility helicopter || EC 135P-2 || 2 ||
|-----
| Gulfstream IV || || VIP transport || || 1 ||
|-----
| Learjet 45 || || VIP transport || || 1 ||
|-----
| Pilatus PC-9 || || trainer || PC-9M || 8 ||
|-----
| colspan=6 align=center | In addition, the IAC operates on behalf of the national police force's Garda Air Support Unit:
|-----
| AS 355N Twin Squirrel || || GASU || AS 355N || 1 ||
|-----
| Eurocopter EC 135T2 || || GASU || EC 135T-2 || 1 ||
|-----
| Britten-Norman Defender 4000 || || GASU || BN2T-4S || 1 ||
|}

Recent equipment changes

Replaced by the PC-9Ms, several SF-260WE Marchetti Warrior's (the previous fixed-wing mainstay's of the Air Corps College) were sold to a private collector in the United States - though one example was retained for the IAC's museum collection. Several other aircraft (including four Dauphins and one Gazelle) have also been recently retired from service, officially struck off the IACs aircraft register and sold to foreign buyers.

A Sikorsky S-61N (previously operated by the IAC for Search and Rescue/Coast Guard operations) was recently returned to the leasing company, and contractors now operate the helicopter in the same capacity. As part of this consolidation to a limited number of supported types, it is the expected that the IAC will retire the Alouette III fleet after the delivery of the remaining utility helicopters that are currently on order.
As part of this change, and following the exercise of two options, in addition to the first four AgustaWestland AW139 already in operation, a final pair of AW139 Utility Helicopters will be delivered from Italy in late 2007 or early 2008.
It was also revealed in 2006 that the IAC had signed a contract with EADS CASA to upgrade the two CN-235's to the FITS Persuader standard. This will increase the aircraft's capability as they will be fitted with enhanced radars, forward looking infra red equipment and a new electronic and avionics suite. The upgrade is to start in 2007 at the rate of one aircraft at a time.

Ranks

The Air Corps' ranks are similar to those of the Irish Army. The current strength is 930 all ranks.

Officers

★ Brigadier General

★ Colonel

★ Lieutenant Colonel

★ Commandant

★ Captain

★ Lieutenant

★ Second Lieutenant

Non-commissioned

★ Regimental Sergeant Major

★ Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant

★ Flight Sergeant

★ Flight Quartermaster Sergeant

★ Sergeant

★ Corporal

★ Airman 3 Star

★ Airman 2 Star

See also

★ List of Ireland-related topics

★ Politics of the Republic of Ireland

★ History of Ireland

★ List of aircraft of the Irish Air Corps

★ Irish Defence Forces

References

1. The Irish Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF or P.D.F) and the Reserve Defence Forces (RDF or R.D.F.). The Air Corps are part of the PDF.
2. "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', January 15 2007.
3. IAC (102 Squadron) operates 1 Beech King Air (#BB-672 with tail-number 240). Two previously operated aircraft (#BB-376 and #BB-208, with tail-numbers 232 and 234) were sold in 1991 and 1992 respectively. See: scramble.nl, iol.ie/~asire/aircorps, irishairpics.com and other sources.

External link

★ Air Corps section of the Irish Defence Forces website