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Ireland Buys Three PC-12 for Irish Air Corps

pilatus pc-12ng inflight

Ireland Buys Three PC-12 for Irish Air Corps

Ireland Buys Three PC-12 for Irish Air Corps. The Irish Air Corps will replace its former fleet of Cessna FR172H utility aircraft with a trio of PC-12NG Pilatus, and new assets will be introduced from next year.

Valuing the purchase at approximately USD 39 million including adaptations, the Irish Department of Defense says that PC-12NGs "will be equipped for intelligence, surveillance, acquisition and recognition of objectives, logistical support and transportation, and medical evacuation. / air ambulance tasks. "

It says: "The first two aircraft will be delivered in 2019 and the third in 2020." PC-12NG will be operated from Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel. Single-engine turboprop engines will replace five Cessnas in operational use since 1972. The Irish Air Corps describes the roles played by the current type that include monitoring and surveillance.

There are 67 PC-12 / NG in active service with military operators, of a worldwide fleet of almost 1,500 of Swiss type. It shows that current users include Afghanistan (18), Bulgaria (1), Finland (6), Iraq (5) and South Africa (1), in addition to the US Air Force. UU (35) and the US Navy. UU (1).

The successors of Irish Air Corps' Field Cpsnas are part of a larger defense investment planned by Dublin during the period up to 2021. This will also include the selection of replacements for its two Maritime Patrol aircraft Airbus Defense & Space CN-235, which They entered service in 1994.

The Pilatus PC-12 is a single-engine turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The main market for the aircraft is corporate transport and regional airliner operators.
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