Air Corps ( Ireland ) The Air Corps ( ) is the air component of the Defence Forces of Ireland providing support to the Army and Naval Service , together with non - military air services such as search and rescue , air ambulance and the Ministerial Air Transport Service . The principal airbase is Casement Aerodrome located at Baldonnel . History . National Army Air Service . The National Army Air Service was independent Ireland ' s first air force . During 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 R . A . F . and the Aircraft Disposal Company . This company had been 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 . Its successor , the Irish Army Air Corps was established in 1924 following a re - organisation of the National Army at the end of the Civil War . The Air Corps . Early years . With the establishment of the Defence Forces in 1924 the Air Service became the new Army ' s Air Corps and 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 the Second World War . 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 . 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 , supplied during 1941 . 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 Hurricane s . The Hurricane gave the Air Corps a proven modern fighter , and – at peak – 20 flew in Irish colours . Postwar . After the war , the Hurricanes were replaced by Supermarine Seafire s and a few two - seat Spitfire trainers . Avro Anson light transports were operated as communications aircraft between 1946 and retirement in 1962 . The Percival Provost was introduced in the mid 1950s as the IACs initial training aircraft . 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 . In early 1963 the Corps took delivery of its first helicopters , SA . 316B Alouette IIIs , of which seven remained in service at the start of the 21st century . During their operational lifetime , 3 , 300 people were assisted by the Alouette helicopters in their Search and Rescue and air ambulance roles . 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 co - ordinating the first demonstration of the Marchetti SF - 260 Warrior at Baldonnel . As a result of this presentation the Corps acquired a number of Warriors . Expansion . 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 combat aircraft . In 1977 ten SIAI - Marchetti SF . 260WE Warriors were delivered for light training and ground attack roles . Four have been lost in crashes . In 1986 five SA 365Fi 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 . As part of Ireland ' s obligations to the European Union , the Irish Air Corps patrols 132 , 000 square miles ( 342 , 000 km² ) of sea . The Air Corps previously employed two of its three Beechcraft 200 Super King Airs for this duty . However , the Super King Airs used for Maritime patrol were disposed of in the 1990s , and the third was allocated to transport duties . 102 Squadron operated one Beech King Air ( # BB - 672 with tail - number 240 ) , but ( as of 2010 ) it is out of service and hangared . Two previously operated aircraft ( # BB - 376 and # BB - 208 , with tail - numbers 232 and 234 ) were sold in 1991 and 1992 respectively . 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 . A Grumman Gulfstream IV was later acquired , as was a Learjet 45 . The average cost per hour in 2012 of operating the Gulfstream IV was €3 , 790 . In 2004 eight Pilatus PC - 9 M trainers were delivered to the Air Corps . The Pilatus aircraft were the first Air Corps aircraft to break with an IAC tradition of using consecutive tail - numbers . The General Officer Commanding started the new Pilatus tail - numbers in the 260 series – jumping from tail - number 258 ( a Learjet 45 ) to 260 ( the first Pilatus ) – skipping tail - number 259 . The Pilatus is the first Air Corps aircraft to have ejection seats since the Vampire . The PC - 9M has six underwing hard points , and has the capability to be armed with FN HMP250 gun pod s , each carrying one M3P machine gun , and FN LAU - 7 rocket pod s , each carrying seven Folding - Fin Aerial Rocket s , for the close air support role . Aircrew s have an annual live firing exercise , flying out of Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel to the coastal range at Gormanston Camp . Two Eurocopter EC 135 P2 Light Utility Helicopters were delivered to the Irish Air Corps ( IAC ) in November 2005 . The first of four AgustaWestland AW139 s were handed over to the IAC at Agusta ' s facility in Milan in November 2006 . Two of the AW139 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 General Purpose Machine Gun s . On 12 October 2009 an Air Corps instructor , Captain Derek Furniss , and Cadet David Jevens were killed when their Pilatus PC - 9 crashed during a training exercise in Connemara , County Galway . During the 2011 Libyan civil war , the Air Corps was tasked with evacuating approximately forty Irish citizens from the troubled country . The operation involved two Air Corps aircraft ( the Learjet and one CN - 235 ) , and nine personnel , using Malta as a temporary base . Aircraft inventory . Recent equipment retirements . Replaced by the PC - 9Ms , several SF - 260WE Marchetti Warriors ( the previous fixed - wing mainstay of the Air Corps College ) were sold to a private reseller 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 retired from service , struck off the IACs aircraft register and sold to foreign buyers . The Sikorsky S - 61 N operated by the IAC for Search and Rescue / Coast Guard operations was returned to CHC Helicopter – who now operate the S - 61N in the same Coast Guard SAR capacity . As part of this consolidation to a limited number of supported types , and following the exercise of two further options on AW139 Utility Helicopters , the previous army support fleet , the Alouette IIIs , were " stood down " at a ceremony at Casement aerodrome on 21 September 2007 . The Eurocopter twin squirrel helicopter of the Garda Air Support Unit was replaced by a second Eurocopter EC135 in January 2008 . Capabilities . The Air Corps military roles and the functions it carries out are those of an army air corps rather than that of a conventional military air force . The Air Corps air space control and ground attack capacity is limited to low level and during clear weather . Helicopter troop transport is also limited but is now available 24 hours a day . The Air Corps non - military capabilities in aid to the civil power and other Government departments include Ministerial transport , fishery protection , limited maritime patrol , Garda support , search and rescue over both land and sea , an air ambulance service and non - combatant evacuation . The Air Corps provides the State the capacity to meet any ongoing needs and should it be required the basis to expand . Organisation and Roles . Organisation . The Air Corps is primarily divided into two operational flying wings , and two non - flying support wings , plus an independent non - flying squadron . The final major unit of the Air Corps is the Air Corps College . No 1 Operations Wing . 1 Operations Wing is the main formation responsible for operational fixed - wing flying . This is sub - divided into four individual flying squadrons and two non - flying squadrons , each of which has a dedicated role : No 3 Operations Wing . 3 Operations Wing is the formation responsible for operational rotary wing flying , and is divided into two flying and one non - flying squadrons No 4 Support Wing . 4 Support Wing is primarily concerned with second - line aircraft maintenance ( front line maintenance is done by the engineering squadrons in each operational wing ) . This formation has two squadrons . No 5 Support Wing . 5 Support Wing is responsible for logistic support for the Air Corps . A further unit , independent of No 5 Wing , is the Communication & Information Services Squadron , which has responsibility for communications and IT support for the entire Air Corps . Air Corps College . The Air Corps College is the principal training unit of the Irish Air Corps , where all entrants into the service undertake their training . The College is divided into three distinct schools : Roles . Air Ambulance . The Air Corps provides an air ambulance service for emergency rapid transfer of patients between hospitals or to hospitals from offshore islands . The service also transports emergency organ retrieval teams . The aircraft ' s used are the AW139 , EC135 , CASA and Learjet . One AW139 is also operated for the Emergency Aeromedical Service based in Athlone , providing an air ambulance service from scenes of accidents to hospitals , in conjunction with the National Ambulance Service Maritime Patrol . The Air Corps operates two CASA CN235 Maritime Patrol aircraft in support of the fishery protection . These long - range aircraft patrol throughout the Irish exclusive fishery limits . The Cessna ' s and occasionally the EC135 and AW139 helicopters are used to monitor inshore fishing activities . Ministerial Air Transport Service . The Air Corps provide a Ministerial Air Transport Service ( MATS ) to assist the President and members of the Government in official engagements at both home and abroad . The Gulfstream IV and Learjet 45 are used specifically for this purpose . The AW139 and occasionally the EC135 and CASA are also used for the MATS . Garda Air Support . The Air Corps in conjunction with the Department of Justice and Equality currently operates three aircraft for the Garda Air Support role . Operational control of the aircraft remains with the Department of Justice , Equality and Law Reform , whereas the Air Corps provide pilots and aircraft technicians to the Garda Air Support Unit to fly and maintain the aircraft . Ranks . The Air Corps ' ranks are similar to those of the Irish Army . The strength is 850 all ranks .