Modern vehicles of the Irish Army

Irish Army

Components Irish Army Army Reserve Equipment Weapons Uniform and dress Vehicles and equipment Personnel Officer rank insignia Enlisted rank insignia

This is a partial list of the modern vehicles of the Irish Army (and other Irish Defence Forces).

Current vehicles

Name	Origin	Type	Number	Image	Notes
Armoured fighting vehicle
Mowag Piranha IIIH[1]	Switzerland	Armoured Personnel Carrier	80[2]		* 45 APC's armed with 12.7mm machine gun & co-ax 7.62mm machine gun * 8 Command Vehicles armed with 12.7mm machine gun & co-ax 7.62mm machine gun * 2 Ambulances * 1 Recovery Vehicle * 18 Close Reconnaissance Vehicles armed with the 12.7mm machine gun or 40mm grenade machine gun in a Kongsberg Protector * 6 Medium Reconnaissance Vehicles armed with Oto Melara 30mm autocannon (9 APC's were converted to CRV's in 2014-2015)
RG-32M Light Tactical Armoured Vehicle (LTAV)[3][4]	South Africa	Light Tactical Vehicle	27		Armed with pintle mounted 7.62mm machine gun or Kongsberg Protector RWS with the 12.7mm machine gun or 40mm grenade machine gun.
Scorpion CRV(T)[5]	United Kingdom	Reconnaissance vehicle	6 (14)		Armed with 1x76mm gun, co-ax 7.62mm machine gun and 7.62mm anti-air machine gun. Only 6 actually serviceable.
General service vehicle
Mitsubishi Pajero	Japan	Off-road vehicle
Nissan Patrol[6]	Japan	Off-road vehicle
Land Rover Defender	United Kingdom	Off-road vehicle			Field ambulances and funeral gun carriage tractor.
Ford Ranger	United States	Off-road vehicle
Isuzu D-Max	Japan	Off-road vehicle
Troop carrying vehicle
Scania R 420 6x6[7]	Sweden	Troop carrying vehicle
Iveco EuroCargo 4x4[8][9]	Italy	Troop carrying vehicle
Mercedes-Benz 1117 4x4[9]	Germany	Troop carrying vehicle	60
Leyland DAF T244 4x4	United Kingdom	Artillery gun tractor and Troop carrying vehicle	55
Ford Transit Minibus	United States	Minibus
Logistics
Scania P124CB 8x8 DROPS[10]	Sweden	DROPS truck
Iveco Astra M320.42 W BAD 8x8 DROPS	Italy	DROPS truck			One fitted with a EKALIFT 2500 recovery body.
Other
Mowag Duro III	Switzerland	Explosive Ordnance Disposal vehicle			Armoured and unarmoured variants
Bandvagn 206	Sweden	Air defence support role	7		Fitted with GIRAFFE Mk IV radars
ACMAT VLRA	France	Long range special reconnaissance	3		Used by Army Ranger Wing
Ford F350 SRV	United States	RECCE vehicle	12		Used by Army Ranger Wing
Aardvark MK4	United Kingdom	Mine flail
DOK-ING MV-4	Croatia	Remote mine flail	2		Tracked remote control mini flail
EOD Duro II	Switzerland	Tactical military lorry
Unmanned aerial vehicle
Aeronautics Orbiter UAV	Israel	Miniature UAV	3 (6)		Used by Artillery Corps. Two systems were acquired in 2006 each system has 3 Orbiter UAV's. Two were destroyed in crashes and one was lost and never recovered.

Former vehicles

Name	Origin	Type	Number	Image	Notes
Sisu XA-180	Finland	Armoured Personnel Carrier	2		Retired 2012

Defence Forces aircraft

Note: All Irish Aircraft are operated by the Irish Air Corps. Main article: List of aircraft of the Irish Air Corps

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Maritime patrol
CASA CN-235	Spain	maritime patrol	MPA 100	2[11]
Transport
Learjet 45	United States	VIP / air ambulance		1[12]
Surveillance
Britten-Norman Defender	United Kingdom	police air support	Defender 4000	1[11]	flown for the Garda Air Support Unit (GASU) [13]
Cessna Reims FR172 H	France	surveillance / utility		5[14]	based on the Cessna 172[15]
Helicopters
AgustaWestland AW139	Italy	utility		6[11]
Eurocopter EC135	France	utility	EC135 P2+/T2	4[11]	two P2+s are flown for military purposes,[16] with two T2s for the GASU[17]
Trainer
Pilatus PC-9	Switzerland	advanced trainer / CAS	PC-9M	7[11]	armament option include heavy machine gun or rocket pods.[18][19]

Gallery

• 

  Panhard AML-20 (retired in 2013)

• 

  Honda ceremonial escort motorcycles of 2 Cavalry Squadron

See also

• Modern Irish Army uniform
• Modern weapons of the Irish Army

References

1. "Irish Army Vehicles – Mowag APC". Military.ie (Official site). Archived from the original on 26 November 2010.
2. "Irish army vehicles suffering multiple faults". The Sunday Times. 20 July 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
3. Lavery, Don (14 December 2008). ""South African firm wins Irish Army vehicle contract"". Irish Independent.
4. "2010 Estimates for Defence and Army Pensions and Annual Output Statement" (Press release). Department of Defence. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
5. "Irish Army Vehicles – Scorpion Armoured reconnaissance vehicle". Military.ie (Official DF site). Archived from the original on 11 July 2008.
6. "Irish Army Vehicles – General Service Vehicle". Military.ie (Official DF site). Archived from the original on 20 February 2009.
7. "Scania.ie – News – Irish Defence Forces €6 million order to SCANIA". September 2006. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007.
8. "Irish Army Iveco EuroCargo 4x4". Flickr.
9. Karl Martin (2002). Irish Army Vehicles: Transport and Armour Since 1922. ISBN 978-0954341305.
10. "Scania.ie – News – Irish Defence Forces Scania 8x8". August 2005. Archived from the original on 21 April 2006.
11. "World Air Forces 2016 pg. 21". Flightglobal Insight. 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
12. "Learjet 45". military.ie. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
13. "Pilatus Britten Norman Defender". military.ie. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
14. "Cessna 172H". military.ie. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
15. "Irish Air Corps - REIMS (CESSNA) FR.172H AND FR.172K ROCKET". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
16. "EC135 P2". military.ie. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
17. "EC135 T2". military.ie. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
18. "Fleet - Pilatus PC-9M Statistics". Military.ie (Official Defence Forces website).
19. IrishAirPics.com - Description of live fire training exercise