A reliance on a foreign power has left Ireland one of the most vulnerable countries in Europe.
March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day. Besides being a convenient excuse for Irish-Americans (and honorary “Irish For A Day”) to go drinking, it’s a serious national religious holiday in the Republic of Ireland, where it’s also known in Gaelic as Lá Fhéile Pádraig (“the Day of the Festival of Patrick”).
So perhaps there is something poetically apropos about this coming March 17, in which St. Patrick’s Day takes place in the same calendar month that Irish Air Corps (“An tAerchór”) announced its decision to buy its first fighter jets in fifty years.
New Jets for the Irish Air Corps
The story comes to us from Clément Charpentreau in a March 3, 2025, article for Aerotime titled “Ireland plans €2.5bn fighter jet purchase, first acquisition in 50 years.” To wit:
“Since 1998, when the Irish Air Corps disbanded its Light Strike Squadron, which operated aging French Fouga CM170 Magister jets, Ireland has had no combat jets. The country also lacks a primary radar system. Without these capabilities, a ‘secret bilateral pact’ has seen the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) tasked with intercepting and responding to aerial threats in Irish airspace … According to former Irish Air Corps head General Ralph James, this reliance on a foreign power, coupled with Ireland’s lack of radar coverage, has made the country ‘probably the most vulnerable’ in Europe. Speaking at the Slándáil 2020 security summit, James warned that neutrality alone was not a defence strategy, stressing that Ireland must be able to deny its airspace to both sides in any future conflict.”
The Emerald Isle’s dependency on the U.K.’s Royal Air Force for air defense is nothing short of ironic, in light of all the efforts that Irish national heroes like Michael Collins and James Connolly spent fighting for Irish independence from the British Crown over a hundred years ago (which paid off in the creation of the Irish Free State in 1921, followed by the Republic of Ireland in 1949).
The upcoming purchase is projected to cost between €60 million ($64.7 million) and €100 million ($107.9 million) per annum over the next twenty to twenty-five, which in turn would add to a lifetime expenditure of up to €2.5 billion ($2.69 billion). The specific make(s) and model(s) of jet fighter(s) being considered weren’t announced, though presumably the fourth-generation Eurofighter Typhoon and/or the U.S.-made F-16 Fighting Falcon would be considered likely prospects in light of their popularity as foreign military sales (FMS) products. (The F-35 Lightning II is also a very popular FMS warbird, though it’s somewhat doubtful in this former U.S. Air Force officer’s professional opinion that the Irish government would be willing and able to spend the extra money on a fifth-generation fighter.)
The Irish Air Corps’ Jet Fighters of Old
Regarding those French Fouga CM170 Magister jets, they served with the Air Corps from 1975 to 1999. Prior to being adopted by Ireland, the Magister made history as the first primary jet trainer to enter production under a FrenchArmée de l’Air specification, making its maiden flight on July 23, 1952. The plane had the following tech specs and vital stats:
Crew: Two
Fuselage Length: 33 feet
Wingspan: 39 feet 10 inches (including tip tanks)
Height: 9 feet 2 inches
Empty Weight: 5,075 lbs.
Gross Weight: 7,187 lbs.
Powerplant: Two 882-pound thrust Turbomeca Marbore IIA turbojets generating 3.9 kN (880 lbf) thrust each
Max Airspeed: 444 mph (Mach 0.57)
Service Ceiling: 36,090 ft.
Range: 575 miles
Armament (Optional): Two 7.5-mm (0.295-inch) or 7.62-mm (0.3-inch) machine guns in the nose, plus underwing hardpoints for rockets, bombs, or Nord AS.11 missiles.
A total of six Magisters served in the Irish Air Corps, serving as replacements for the British-made De Havilland Vampire T.55.
The Current Status of the Irish Air Corps (in Brief)
As of December 2023, the Irish Air Corps has a total of 689 active personnel and a total of twenty-three aircraft in the fleet. The most sophisticated warbirds in that relatively small arsenal are eight Swiss-made Pilatus PC-9M single-engine turboprop trainers, which are primarily utilized by the Flying Training School (FTS) of the Irish Air Corps College. The PC-9M made its maiden flight in May 1984 and was acquired by Ireland in 2004.
Though these Pilatus planes can be armed with FN HMG machine guns and LAU-7 rocket pods for close air support (CAS) missions—indeed, the plane bears at least a passing resemblance to the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano turboprop light attack aircraft—their max airspeed of 320 knots (368.2 mph) and lack of air-to-air missiles such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder or AIM-120 ARMRAAM makes their aerial interception capabilities a dicey proposition at best.
Slainte, Erin Go Bragh.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr
Christian D. Orr was previously a Senior Defense Editor forNational Security Journal (NSJ) and19FortyFive. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published inThe Daily Torch,The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, andSimple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of theNaval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at theOld Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.
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