The Air Corps () is the aviation arm of the Irish Defence Forces. Established in 1922, the Air Corps operates fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft to provide support to the Irish Army, Irish Naval Service and Garda Síochána, rather than actually controlling Irish airspace, having retired its last combat jet aircraft in 1999. Its headquarters is located at its sole air base at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, County 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 December 2023, had only 689 active personnel.
History National Army Air Service
The origins of the Air Corps go back to the Anglo-Irish Treaty talks of 1921, a Martinsyde Type A Mark II biplane was purchased and put on 24-hour standby at Croydon Airport to allow Michael Collins to escape back to Ireland if the talks failed. The plane was not needed for this mission, and it became the first aircraft of the new National Army Air Service arriving in June 1922.
The National Army Air Service was established in July 1922 and was gradually equipped with various aircraft types acquired from the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Aircraft Disposal Company. This company was formed in 1919 to dispose of surplus aircraft and aero-engines from World War I for the British government. By the end of 1922, the National Army Air Service comprised ten aircraft, consisting of six Bristol F2B fighters from the First World War and four Martinsyde F4 Fighters, and about 400 men.
As the National Army Air Services capabilities were modest, and the Anti-Treaty IRA forces had no air force for it to engage in any event, the Air Service played a minimal role in the Irish Civil War.
The Air Corps Early years
National Army Air Service was renamed the Irish Army Air Corps (IAAC) as the Irish Free State reorganised its Defence Forces as part of Defence Forces Act 1924. Army's Air Corps remained part of the Army until the 1990s.
In 1938, four Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters were delivered – a further eight were ordered but were embargoed by the outbreak of World War II. Other aircraft purchased from the United Kingdom before the outbreak of war included 16 Avro Anson Mark I maritime patrol bombers, 3 Supermarine Walrus amphibians, 6 Westland Lysander Mark II army co-operation aircraft and a number of trainers.
World War II (The Emergency) During World War II (or The Emergency) there are no records of Air Corps planes engaging any belligerent aircraft, although dozens of escaped barrage balloons were shot down. Requests for more aircraft from Britain resulted in 13 obsolete Hawker Hector biplane light bombers being supplied during 1941. Twelve Hawker Hurricane Mk. Is were initially ordered for the Irish Army Air Corps in 1940 but were not delivered due to a wartime embargo imposed by the British government. Eleven Hurricane Mk. Is were eventually delivered to the Air Corps, from surplus RAF stocks, between July 1943 and March 1944, and the Hurricane Mk. I (no.93), that crash-landed in County Wexford in 1940, was the twelfth aircraft. These were supplemented by 6 Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIcs that were delivered to the Irish Army Air Corps in March 1945, to eventually replace the Hurricane Mk. Is of No. 1 Fighter Squadron. Supplied from surplus RAF stocks, the Hurricane Mk. IIcs were the last batch of aircraft to be delivered to the Air Corps before the end of World War II. The Hurricanes were the first monoplane fighter aircraft to enter service with the Air Corps and were also the first aircraft capable of reaching 300 m.p.h. in level flight. The Hurricane gave the Air Corps a proven modern fighter, and – at peak – 20 flew in Irish colours. 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.
The Cold War After the Emergency, the Hurricanes were replaced by Supermarine Seafires and a few two-seat Spitfire trainers. The jet age arrived on 30 July 1956 when the Corps took delivery of three de Havilland Vampire T.55 trainers, followed by three more in 1960 who served as advanced trainers and fighters. The Vampires were replaced by six secondhand Fouga CM.170 Magister jet trainers which arrived in 1975-76. The Magisters were used for jet training, by the Light Strike Squadron with machineguns and rockets, for aerobatics by the Silver Swallows display team, and VIP escort.
De Havilland Chipmunk T.20s were introduced in the 1950s and used as basic flight trainers until 1976. Hunting Percival Provost T.51 and T.53s were also introduced in the 1950s as advanced flight trainers, serving until 1976.
During the mid-sixties and early seventies, the Corps played a part in expanding Ireland's film industry. Pilots and engineering staff participated in a 1965 box office success, The Blue Max. The fleet of World War I replicas, owned by ex-RCAF fighter pilot Lynn Garrison's "Blue Max Aviation", was based at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel – before being moved to Weston Aerodrome at Leixlip. Here the Corps continued its involvement, providing aircrew and engineering staff to support films such as Darling Lili, Von Richthofen and Brown, Zeppelin and a number of television commercials. Lynn Garrison was also responsible for coordinating the first demonstration of the Marchetti SF-260 Warrior at Baldonnel. As a result of this presentation, in 1977 the Corps acquired ten SIAI-Marchetti SF.260W Warriors for basic and advanced training and light ground attack. Four were lost in accidents, and one attrition replacement was acquired in 1979.
Three Avro Anson C.19s were delivered in 1946 for radio and navigation training, air-to-ground photography, and transport, and were replaced by four de Havilland Doves which arrived in 1953, 1959, 1962, and 1970, which were also used for calibration of radar and landing aids at Dublin and Shannon airports.
The Troubles in Northern Ireland required additional reconnaissance resources, and in 1972 eight Reims-Cessna FR.172H joined the Air Corps to provide patrolling, aerial surveillance, and aerial communications. One Reims-Cessna FR.172K was delivered in 1981 as an attrition replacement. The Cessnas served with No 2 Support Wing, operating from Gormanstown until the airfield's closure in 2002.
Ireland's accession to the European Economic Community in 1973 which necessitated frequent travel to European capitals for government ministers led to the creation of the Ministerial Air Transport Service (MATS) and the acquisition of the Corps' first business jet, a BAe 125-700 (#238), which served until 1992. This was joined in 1980 by a Beechcraft Super King Air 200 (#240), which also provided multi-engine training.
Ireland's accession to the EEC also necessitated sustained maritime patrolling of 342,000 km2 (132,000 square miles) of ocean. Two Beechcraft Super King Air 200s (#232 and #234) were delivered in 1977–78 to perform this duty.
The bad winter of 1962/3 incentivised the acquisition of helicopters and in November 1963, the Air Corps took delivery of its first three helicopters, SA.316B Alouette IIIs, followed by five more in 1972–73. The Alouettes performed search and rescue, troop transport and air ambulance duties. Two Aérospatiale SA342L Gazelle entered service in 1979 to provide helicopter training.
The single engine of the Alouette limited its search and rescue range over water, and in 1986 five twin-engined Aérospatiale SA365Fi Dauphin II were acquired for the SAR role. Two of these were modified for operation from the Naval Service Helicopter Patrol vessel LÉ Eithne, and equipped with crashproof fuel tanks and harpoon deck arrester gear.
After the Cold War and into the 21st century
In the 1990s the Irish Army Air Corps was renamed the Irish Air Corps (IAC) and was separated from the Army.
By 1999, the Magisters were all withdrawn from service, leaving Ireland without any jet combat aircraft. In 1998, a review of the Air Corps conducted by Price Waterhouse for the Irish government recommended replacing the Fougas and Marchettis by eight light strike/trainer aircraft. In 2004, the Marchettis were retired from service, and they and the Magisters were replaced by eight Pilatus PC-9M trainers. The PC-9M is the first Air Corps aircraft to have ejection seats since the Vampire, and can be lightly armed with machine guns and rocket pods for close air support. On 12 October 2009, Air Corps instructor Captain Derek Furniss and Cadet David Jevens were killed when their PC-9M (#265) crashed during a training exercise in Connemara, County Galway. In 2017, an attrition replacement (#269) was delivered.
To support Ireland's assumption of the EU Presidency in 1990, the Corps leased a Grumman Gulfstream III (#249) – which in 1990 became the first Irish military aircraft to circumnavigate the world. The success of Gulfstream III as an ambassador for Ireland led to its replacement in 1992 by a Grumman Gulfstream IV (#251) which also replaced the HS.125.
Ireland again assumed the EU Presidency in 1994, and the Air Corps acquired a Learjet 45XR (#258) to supplement the government's ministerial travel requirements. The Ministerial Air Transport Service has since declined in use and size as government ministers are reluctant to travel in perceived luxury when adequate commercial air travel is available, and after repeated criticisms of government ministers using Air Corps aircraft for domestic travel. The repeated technical problems to the MATS aircraft has led to their gradual withdrawal from service, with the Beechcraft the first to be retired in 2009. The Gulfstream IV followed in 2014 after corrosion was detected in the undercarriage which required substantial costs to repair. In February 2023, the government agreed to replace the increasingly unreliable Learjet 45 with a mid-sized, long-range jet capable of assisting in overseas evacuation of Irish citizens, medical transport as well as ministerial air transport. In December 2024, the government ordered a Dassault Falcon 6X, for use ahead of Ireland's EU Presidency in the second half of 2026. The Falcon (#290) arrived in December 2025.
The two maritime patrol Beechcraft were unsuitable for flying in long periods in a salty atmosphere and were replaced by two CASA CN235-100MP Persuader which arrived in 1994. These were upgraded in 2006/2007 by EADS CASA to the FITS Persuader standard with enhanced radar, forward looking infrared equipment and a new electronic and avionics suite. In 2019, the government ordered two Airbus C295 maritime patrol aircraft (#284, #285) which arrived in 2023 to replace the CN235.
In the 1990s the Air Corps gained a new role with the formation of the Garda Air Support Unit (GASU) in 1997. The unit was initially equipped with one Britten-Norman Defender 4000 (#254), and one Eurocopter AS.355N Ecureil (#255). Operational control of the aircraft remains with the Department of Justice, Equality, and Law Reform, while the Air Corps provide pilots and technicians to fly and maintain the aircraft. The AS.355N was supplemented by a Eurocopter EC135 T2 (#256) in 2003, and replaced by a second EC135 T2 (#272) which arrived in January 2008. In December 2025, the Britten-Norman was replaced by a DHC-6 Twin Otter (#288).