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Panther

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January 9, 2004 at 4:32 pm in reply to: Irish Air Corps – Which Jet ? #2671838

Panther
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Does anybody here have the spec and approx prices of the Aero L-159 and Hawk 200 ?

January 8, 2004 at 12:28 am in reply to: Irish Air Corps – Which Jet ? #2673292

Panther
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ForkTailedDevil,
Some valid points. A possible contender that has been suggested is the F5 – that is if there are any ‘good ones’ left !

The Alouette’s/Gazelle/Dauphin’s will be replaced with a single type in the coming year.
Likewise the Cessna’s – but the King Air will probably ‘soldier on’ for a few more years in the twin-engine trainer role.

The Defender is a Garda (Police) Air Support Unit (GASU) aircraft, which was only purchased in 1997, so there is little chance that it will be replaced for the forseeable future.

The Navy are seeking to INCREASE their fleet – not reduce it.

I agree totally that an additional CASA 235 MPA is required (or better still, two more!).

The Irish Coast Guard currently operate 4 x Sikorsky S61N’s in the SAR role – with at least one additional S61N being added in the near future.

However, as you point out, the IAC do have a lot of roles/ops to cover with a small fleet and it would seem that the are no plans to add any great numbers of additional aircraft any time soon :confused:

But in fairness to the Corps, the have always done a very professional job with the limited equipment they have.

Rockall 😀 😀

Then again, if the Icelandic Coast Guard could hold off the Royal Navy with 3 lightly armed patrol ships – the Irish Navy should be well up to the job with 8 x Modern Warships ! 😉 😀

January 7, 2004 at 7:17 pm in reply to: Irish Air Corps – Which Jet ? #2673643

Panther
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It is, ofcourse, true that Ireland has no enemies which are possible invaders. However, that is also the case for many other countries around the world – and no reason to disregard the need for a basic air defence aircraft.
There are many other reasons for a country to maintain fast jets – CAS, Anti-Smuggling, Defence Forces Training, etc. etc…….and Ireland is no different in this regard.

However, whether it is justifiable (at present) to spend large amounts on aircraft like the F16 or Gripen is the crux of the argument.
Perhaps, by at least having something like the L-159 or Hawk, it would provide some basic capabilities that are currently lacking – and maintain a pool of fast jet pilots – who, inturn, would require less training to move to the likes of the F16, if security conditions deteriorated and dictated such a requirement.

****Ant,
The Learjet 45 cost €8.5million ($10.7million) NOT $40million, and there was little public furore regarding it’s purchase.
The 2 x CASA CN-235 MPA’s have been in operation since 1994.

January 6, 2004 at 7:06 pm in reply to: Irish Air Corps – Which Jet ? #2674302

Panther
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The L-159 and Hawk were suggested in the past as a direct replacement for the CM170’s – The L-159 being the most likely choice.

However, now with PC-9’s on the way, perhaps the time is right to look at something like the Gripen instead ?!

January 2, 2004 at 4:45 pm in reply to: Ur opinion on the World's most useless air force #2676975

Panther
Participant

The Irish Air Corps currently operate 2 x CASA CN235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (not a single 295 as stated by a previous poster).

The idea of combining the Irish Navy and Air Corps into a single Coast Guard (CG) force was considered at the time of the White Paper Review. However, the decision was taken not to form a new civilian staffed CG force, which would cost LESS to operate (not more as previously stated ) than the current military force, but to retain our current military structure as part of the Irish Defence Forces.

January 1, 2004 at 11:15 pm in reply to: IAC pic #2677948

Panther
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Latest addition to the Air Corps fleet –

Learjet 45 No: 258.
(pictured shortly after it’s arrival on 20/12/03)

December 29, 2003 at 7:30 pm in reply to: IAC pic #2680779

Panther
Participant

Actually this is the book in question –
(c. A4, 112 pages. Excellent book !)

December 29, 2003 at 7:19 pm in reply to: IAC pic #2680799

Panther
Participant

Irish Air Corps aircraft.

Hi Ja Worsley,

If you would like to see lots more pics of IAC aircraft (including the Fouga’s) go to http://www.irishairpics.com – the largest online gallery of Irish aviation and Air Corps photos.

There is also a new Air Corps book available – “The Irish Air Corps Celebrates 100 Years of Flight” (ISBN number: 0-9546669-0-9). The book is a photo album of all the IAC aircraft used since the Corps was established in 1922.

The CM-170’s were withdrawn from use in 1999. 3 of the aircraft have been loaned to Irish technical colleges for avaition studies and the remaining 4 are in storage in Baldonnel.

There are no pics of the new IAC Pilatus PC-9M’s yet, as they are currently under construction in Switzerland. The first deliveries are expected in March 04.
(The new book that I mentioned above includes an ‘artists impression’ of the PC-9’s.)

Hope this information is of some help to you,
Best regards,

Panther.
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