Garda Surveillance Aircraft Cost €550k in Maintenance for Just Seven Hours of Flight Time
- An Garda Síochána spent more than €550,000 on maintenance and fuel for a surveillance aircraft over the final three years of its operation despite it logging roughly seven...
- Between 2023 and 2025, the Garda Air Support Unit’s Defender 4000 fixed-wing aircraft cost approximately €79,000 per operational hour.
- To replace the retired Defender, the Garda Air Support Unit acquired a Canadian-made DHC-6 Twin Otter Guardian 400 in late 2025 for €7 million.
An Garda Síochána spent more than €550,000 on maintenance and fuel for a surveillance aircraft over the final three years of its operation despite it logging roughly seven hours in the air, according to figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request by The Irish Times.
Garda Surveillance Aircraft Costs and Flight Hours
Between 2023 and 2025, the Garda Air Support Unit’s Defender 4000 fixed-wing aircraft cost approximately €79,000 per operational hour. Acquired in 1997 from British manufacturer Britten-Norman, the aircraft saw sharp declines in usage due to mounting maintenance issues before its retirement in 2025. Between 2020 and 2022, the aircraft used €16,278 in fuel, translating to about 84 hours of operations. Usage dropped significantly thereafter. In 2023, the Defender recorded zero flight hours while incurring €271,594 in maintenance costs. In 2024, it racked up €275,684 in maintenance expenses despite flying for only about five hours. In its final year of operations in 2025, the aircraft flew for roughly two hours and cost €2,639 in maintenance. In total, the Defender cost €551,323 in fuel and maintenance since 2023 while flying for just seven hours. Sources indicated that the majority of those final flight hours consisted of test flights conducted by manufacturer pilots. The totals excluded the cost of fitting sophisticated new equipment in the final years, including tactical radios and a Flir Ultraforce thermal-imaging camera, which sources noted saw little use.
Replacement Fleet and Ongoing Pilot Shortages
To replace the retired Defender, the Garda Air Support Unit acquired a Canadian-made DHC-6 Twin Otter Guardian 400 in late 2025 for €7 million. Designed for high-altitude intelligence gathering and surveillance, the new aircraft can remain airborne for hours while staying invisible to people on the ground. A separate replacement program for the unit’s two aging Eurocopter EC135 helicopters is also underway. They are slated for replacement by two Airbus H145 units, with an option for a third. However, delivery of one helicopter built in 2024 has faced delays due to a paperwork mix-up. Compounding these equipment transitions, the Garda Air Support Unit faces a staffing shortage. The unit currently operates with just six Air Corps pilots instead of the required complement of 10. These crew shortages frequently leave Garda helicopters unavailable for night operations. Crew limitations meant neither helicopter was available on the night of a fatal August 16th crash on the M9 motorway near Moone, County Kildare, where five teenagers died after their car was driven the wrong way into oncoming traffic.