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Defence Forces (Ireland)
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===Air Corps=== {{Main article|Irish Air Corps}} [[File:Irish Air Corps AgustaWestland AW-139 Lofting.jpg|thumb|Irish Air Corps [[AgustaWestland AW139]] helicopter]] The Air Corps is the air component of the Defence Forces. Its HQ is at [[Casement Aerodrome|Casement (Baldonnel) Aerodrome]]. The Air Corps is the smallest of the branches of the Defence Forces, with approximately 689 personnel,<ref name="writtenAnswersPDF"/> and its primary roles are defined as: #Support of the Army #Support of the Naval Service #[[Military aid to the civil power|Aid to the civil power]] There are two secondary roles: #[[Military aid to the civil community|Aid to the civil community]] #Aid to government departments The Air Corps provides support to the Army and Naval Service, together with non-military air services such as the [[Emergency Aeromedical Service|Emergency Aeromedical (air ambulance) Service]], VIP transport, and [[search and rescue]] (in support of [[Irish Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] search and rescue efforts). The Air Corps is unable to provide the traditional air force role of defending Irish airspace as it has no [[fighter aircraft]]. The Air Corps has two [[EADS CASA C-295|Airbus C295]] maritime patrol aircraft equipped with detection systems to assist the Naval Service in patrolling Ireland's territorial waters and [[exclusive economic zone]]. These aircraft are also used for [[high-altitude military parachuting|high-altitude, low-opening parachuting]] by the Army's ARW. The Air Corps has six [[AgustaWestland AW139]] [[utility helicopter]]s capable of being armed with [[FN MAG]] machine guns. These are used in support of the ARW, Naval Service and [[Garda Síochána]] operations, and are the only helicopters within the state capable of flying at night in mountain terrain using [[night vision|night-vision]] technology. The eight [[Pilatus PC-9]] turboprop trainers can be equipped with [[rocket pod]]s and machine guns, and two [[Eurocopter EC135]] light utility helicopters (which can be used as sniper platforms by the ARW) are used for training pilots and for air-ambulance missions. The Air Corps conducted over 130 maritime surveillance patrol flights in 2019, and provided medical support to the [[Health Service Executive|HSE]] for patients by conducting over 233 [[Emergency Aeromedical Service]] missions and 32 inter-hospital air ambulance transfers.<ref name="PRbranch2019">{{Cite web|url=https://military.ie/en/member's-area/members-area-files/pr_branch_infographic_13dec_final_no_trim.pdf|title=Internal Communications Digest December 2019|website=Military.ie|access-date=11 January 2020|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111140408/https://military.ie/en/member%27s-area/members-area-files/pr_branch_infographic_13dec_final_no_trim.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
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