Fighter jets for the Air Corps?

Thats true actaully, i think it summer 2023 when they are due to phased out, there is one replacement being noted is the Boeing/Saab T-7 Red Hawk, the last i seen was that it was the strongest contender. Sweden love the shoulder to shoulder trainers though the Grob is ideal for there methodology.

While its Basic flying training, its not basic military flying.

Same reason the Army doesn't get civvys in to train army drivers.

Dohvolle is right above.

My question is though, free up manpower to do what?

I think it's a lot more to do with turnover and a failure to attract people in in the first place that's causing the problem.

Outsource training, insource it, export it to other militaries, it doesn't change the fundamental retention issue.

I don't disagree. And that sort of programme will have to be one of the first developed for the DF overhaul,if they are to genuinely change things.

There must be holistic career options, education in exchange for minimum service. They should look again at housing for all personnel in service too, where they can put down some roots and start a family.

It's impossible for the state to compete with private enterprise, who have apparently bottomless cash resources to entice pilots away.

However, ask the guys who were working 5 day weeks with Stobart Air 3 years ago who they would prefer to be with now? The Airline industry is fickle as an employer, and has already seen 3 major slumps in just 2 decades. Lots of guys who left school in the 90s thinking they'd be flying around exotic international locations for the rest of their lives trying to get by now teaching student pilots touch and go's in some remote airstrip in the midlands to pay the mortgage, begging for freight hours to stay current on their aircraft of type, while their spouse is back working a part time job in the local supermarket to keep food on the table.

Civvy pilots are only doing well if they are willing to up sticks and go overseas, and stay there while they remain medically fit.

Hard to put a value on knowing what you will be earning in 5 years time.

That's kinda it loyalty has to work both ways the government has to start looking after people. At the end of the day we all have our life's to live and living cost a lot.

just something I came by.

Are more pilots been sent out or was that a once off?

We had operated contemporary fighter and fighter/trainer aircraft continuously from 1938 until the Vampires were slated for retirement in 1975. The Fougas were a straight replacement, were they not?

The more prudent question would be, why were the Fougas not properly replaced in 1999.

The opportunity was there to address that gap somewhat in the post-911 environment and those great Statesmen, Michael Smith and John O'Donoghue thought otherwise.

All those short-sighted dumbass White Papers and benign security assessments in that era were a disgrace. Many a useful idiot drawing massive pensions from those times of carnage.

It goes back even further than that. The single seat Seafires were never replaced by another single seat fighter in 1955.

The Spitfire trainers were replaced by Vampire jet trainers and later Fouga Magister jet trainers.

All the above were in number 1 Fighter Squadron at one time or another at Gormanston and later Baldonnel. No. 1 Fighter Squadron then became and did double duties as the advanced flight training school.

All these aircraft were used for training purposes in the Air Corps, with the Army and Naval Service, they did aid to civil power duties occasionally and were used for ceremonial duties.

They were purchased to give pilots the opportunity to fly military aircraft, learn formation, train in weapons and tactics etc. I don’t think anyone really thought they would be used in a real world conflict - the idea seemed to be to form a nucleus of military pilots who would have a foundation to build on if the government saw fit to purchase contemporary fighter aircraft (probably due to another world war scenario)

No. 1 Fighter Squadron became Light Strike Squadron in 1980 during a reorganisation in the Air Corps probably because it wasn’t realistic to equip a fighter squadrons with subsonic training aircraft .

The Fouga Magisters started to be gradually retired from 1996 to 1999. The reason they weren’t replaced at the time was due to the Price Waterhouse report which said the Fouga Magisters and Marchetti basic trainers should both be replaced by a single type of turboprop trainer.

After the last Fouga was retired Light Strike Squadron just ceased to exist and advanced pilot training was carried on until 2004 on one King Air 200. Then the Pilates PC.9M turboprops arrived and combined the basic and advanced training requirements for the Air Corps with a secondary function of light strike.

It’s fair to say Ireland has never had a real air defence system or ever operated contemporary military fighter aircraft.

Good idea. If it's cheap then that's the one for the air corps.

Fair enough, but if it is basically a brand new build with new F414 engines and modern avionic systems, the what does it matter when it was designed? I mean F-16's are from the 70s and it does say they have a 40 year guarantee.

Oh the Israelis would sell to us, they may not like our position on their activities but that’s not really stopped them before, but yes the question should be more should we buy from them? Like you said there are plenty of other options.