Air Corps to operate Gulfstream 550 CAEW

The Irish Air Corps have taken delivery of a Gulfstream G550 CAEW. The unannounced development arose as a result of concerns by the United States administration about the capabilities of the Air Corps CASA 235 maritime patrol aircraft to monitor a sufficiently large volume of air space in the lead up to the G20 summit which is taking place in London this week. Shannon airport has been designated an alternate for Air Force 1 should the aircraft be forced to divert for any reason during it's flight to / from the UK and the Irish Air Corps are responsible for security within Irish airspace.

High level talks are understood to have taken place involving the Defence Forces and officials from the Department of Defence who met with their counterparts in Homeland Security and the State Department to assess the ability of the Air Corps aircraft.

As a result of the discussions the US administration took the decision that it would offer the Irish Air Corps the use of a Gulfstream Aerospace CAEW aircraft for a period of 2 weeks. For the past 8 weeks six Air Corps pilots have been training at the Gulfstream Aerospace facility in Savannah Georgia to familiarise themselves with the aircraft's sophisticated radar and signal intelligence capabilities. As part of the loan arrangement the USAF have provided the services of a Liaison pilot, Lt. Rolf Apilo who will partner the Air Corps pilots for the duration of the exercise. The aircraft arrived in Shannon on Monday night at approximately 3.00 am and was immediately hangared with Signature Flight Support who will be handling the aircraft during it's stay in Ireland. Pictured above, the latest Air Corps recruit, serial 280 taxis for takeoff on R24 at Shannon yesterday morning for it's patrol in advance of the transit of Air Force 1 through Irish airspace on it's way to Stansted. In addition to 'Irish Air Corps' titles the aircraft carried 'Maritime' titles under the cockpit window, similar to those on the CASA aircraft For the record the hex code of 280 is 4CA790 Posted 090401