An Cosantóir

GOC air corps | 13 has enhanced our overall appreciation of this new capability. I was very proud of our crews involved in the Dept of Foreign Affairs' crisis man- agement mission to Libya last February. Within three hours of receiving the order we had a Dept of Foreign Affairs team on their way to Malta and thence on to Tripoli. The crews worked within a European Airlift Group assisting with the daily delivery of diplomats to and from Tripoli involved in the transportation of Europeans to safety in Malta. They went on to casevac to Malta a British family and newborn child whose hospital care was in doubt and at the end of the mission brought 40 Irish citizens safely home to Ireland. A mission like that takes me back to our SAR days and the motto 'Go Mairidís Beo' (That Others Might Live). As GOC there are several areas I would like to look at in the future when the economy can support them, in terms of the replacement of existing aircraft, strate- gic lift capability, maritime patrolling, and overseas deployment. The beauty of new aircraft today is that they are designed to be versatile, efficient and very cost effec- tive. Instead of one aircraft for one type of job, an aircraft today can come with several quick-fit kits and perform several useful tasks. We use this system already in our helicopter fleet and the Learjet has demonstrated this capability with the LIFEPORT system in the air ambulance role. Typically this thinking could inform the replacement plans for our Cessnas. Ideally, we would be thinking of a single-engine turboprop as this would standardise the engine power plants as most of the types on the market use the Pratt and Whitney PT-6 series engine which powers our PC9Ms and AW139s. Such a policy could streamline training and skills sets for the technicians as well as utilising the engine handling techniques used by the pilots. These aircraft have excellent, stable aerodynamic qualities at low and medium levels, and are therefore ideally suited for prisoner and cash escorts as well as inshore fishery patrolling. The extra cabin space over the FR172H would be useful too, which would allow such an aircraft to be kitted out for air ambulance, surveillance, cargo, VIP transport, and Special Forces operations. The quick-fit kit concept also applies to a strategic lift aircraft. At the moment when deploying, or re-supplying Irish troops overseas, carrying out disaster relief operations or crisis management missions, we have to hire commercial aircraft to fulfil the task. There is no reason why the Air Corps could not do these jobs; we have the piloting and technical skills, we just need the aircraft. Again, today's aircraft with a strategic capability can be very quickly kitted out for various missions, including troop transport, cargo, air ambulance/ medevac, disaster relief or surveillance. Ireland currently contributes 0.7% of its GDP in foreign aid but we have no way of delivering that aid off-island. If we had a strategic lift capability the Air Corps could do that job. In terms of maritime patrolling the Naval Service is currently exploring the options for patrolling out to 350 nautical miles on behalf of the EU. This would mean we would have to provide force protection and expand our own maritime patrol capabil- ity to cover the same area. The CASA can manage the distance but it would leave a limited time-on-station due to fuel limita- tions. A strategic lift aircraft could comfort- ably fill this role with quicker velocity-to- engagement and longer loiter time. A big ambition of mine is to see Air Corps aircraft deploying overseas with Defence Forces troops. This would be a natural progression for the DF and Air Corps given the increasing contribution of our personnel to aeronautical operations with UN and EU missions. For example, in Tchad, Air Corps officers and NCOs ran the airfield operation and co-ordinated the facilities at the Irishbatt HQ at Goz Beida - this in addition to carrying out their Forward Air Controller tasks on patrol! Our helicopter crews are now trained in deploying troops either directly or through fast-roping assault; they can execute search-and-rescue winching, CASEVAC, underslung load carrying, assault abseil- ing and ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target-acquisition, and reconnaissance) techniques, so there is a huge spectrum of skills to offer a UN mission or EU Battle Group commander overseas. It is the next logical step for us. Currently, the White Paper on Defence (2000) prohibits us from deploying equipment overseas. However, that was written at a time when we were still conducting counter-insurgency opera- tions. Times have changed and the White Paper is up for review soon, so we will see what develops from that process. Following the introduction of the EC 135s and AW 139s, both with night-vision capability, we have been carrying out Army and NS co-op activities on a much more frequent basis. These exercises also include 'clients' such as Special Forces training, joint exercises, mission readiness exercises (MREs), and specialist training with the Ordnance Corps. We have greatly enhanced our capabilities as a result. Over the last number of years our helicopter crews have developed skills in the areas of air gunnery, night-vision flying, and cargo slinging. In February we conduced our first troop deployment at night with 1 Cn Cois (1 Inf Bn, 4 W Bde). We are taking this expan- sion carefully, however, because this is new to both us and the troops and accordingly must be approached cautiously. Another area for the future that I think needs to be looked at is building a recog- nised airspace picture for Ireland. The Naval Service's Fisheries Monitoring Cen- tre can track every vessel in Irish waters and can tell exactly what type of vessel is present and where it is at all times. Our airspace, however, is not monitored to the same intensity. An established moni- toring centre would track, using radar, every aircraft in our airspace at all times and would greatly enhance our capabili- ties in the areas of national security and airspace control, and deter abuse of the nation's airspace for purposes of drugs and arms smuggling. We devote a lot of effort into trying to predict and plan for future challenges and requirements but as much as we try to plan we cannot always be sure of what lies ahead. The only thing we can be sure of is that whatever the future holds for the Air Corps we must continue to be true to our motto, 'Vigilant and Loyal', providing a pro- fessional, flexible and efficient service to the Defence Forces and the people of Ireland. THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

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