Tír Glas - FD - Shipbucket

Aerfhórsa Ríoga de Tír Glas - Royal Glasic Air Force

Ordú Trodaí - Fighter Command - 1922-1984
Clarke White Phantom - 1970-2014
The Phantom in ARTG usage only entered operational service in 1970 (having served at sea for close to a decade previously). The Phantom in ARTG service is derived from the FV studies being slightly longer and with a greater span than preceding variants. Initially powered by the RB.106 turbojet and laterally by a development of the RB.199 the Phantom (Glasic: Fantaise, Spectre) would remain in service until 2014 wherein it would finally be supplanted by the Eagle. After 1984 the type would be operated by the newly formed Assault Command, transitioning to the darker strike scheme. By 1986 the type had gained the ability to employ a conformal weapons pallet and conformal fuel tanks not dissimilar to the forthcoming Strike Eagle. Continual upgrades and preventative maintenance programmes allowed the type to soldier on well past its intended out of service date which enabled GIA to concentrate on unifying the Eagle force for the ARTG.

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Ordú Buamadóir - Bomber Command - 1950-2014

Handley Page HP.104 Victor III - 1922-1984
In service for almost fifty years in one form or another from 1964 until 2013 the Victor (Glasic: Cosantóir, Protector) was the aircraft associated with the conventional deterrent, operating in six hour shifts year-round the type flew close to the borders with Kolodoria, Vyzhva and Fyrland, initially with iron bombs but more recently with cruise missiles.
Initially outfitted with under-wing bomb-panniers the Cosantóir could drop 25,000kg of bombs on a target some 3,750km away allowing them to strike at targets anywhere in Vinya whilst forward-deployed to bases in Tír Ealga.
As a poffler the Cosantóir lost its bomb-panniers with the wing being modified to take two large pylons per side initially for a conventionally-armed SRAM derivative but latterly ASALM. During the 1980s the missile carriers received rotary launchers allowing for a total of up-to 20 ASALMs to be flown, 12 internally and 8 externally which substantially reduced the amount of drag incurred by external carriage.
The type would go on to serve during the Kolo-Tairngiric border conflict before retiring in late 2014, being replaced by of all things the Eagle.

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British Aircraft Corporation TSR.2 - 1970-2009
With the Canberra starting to become long in the tooth a replacement was required, Glasic involvement with the TSR.2 programme would alleviate some of the financial issues being encountered with the programme as well as being able to influence design decisions unlike procuring a type off the shelf such as the Vigilante. Entering service at the same time as the Phantom the Cyclone as it was designated in Glasic service would go through four distinct iterations, culminating in the IT.4, complete with wing-tip EW pods and conformal weapons carriage in lieu of the bomb-bay.
Like the Victor it too would be replaced by an ever growing number of Eagles in a bit to rationalise the disparate types operated by the air force.

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Ordú Ionsaí - Assault Command

Fast jets in the Royal Glasic Air Force / Aerfhórsa Ríoga na Ghraonlainn are split between 1, 11 and 18 Grúpa which are head-quartered in Omagh, Tamlaght and Kinvara respectively. Permanent overseas deployments in the Galenosphere states and Tol Varad draw from these three groups, all in all there are fifty active fast-jet squadrons in the ARTG / ARG totalling some 596 aircraft, the depth fleet holds another 250 or so whilst another 70ish are in storage for one reason or another. By 2020, notwithstanding losses it's envisaged for the ARTG to have 950 fast-jets on the books both flying and in depth.

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GIA Golden Eagle
The Glasic International Aerospace Eagle (Glasic: Iolar, lit. 'Eagle') is a twin-engine, twin-tail multi-role combat aircraft. Designed as a direct replacement for the Phantom (Glasic: Fantaise lit. Phantom). The Eagle unlike the Phantom was originally designed to be operated by a single person, rather than the pilot and systems operator arrangement formerly employed. Conflicting opinions during the design phase lead to the aircraft being easily convertible between single or twin occupancy, initially with only a change in canopy but more recently simply by adding or removing a fuel tank or cockpit as required. The type's main employment is now that of a strike fighter in the air interdiction and close air support roles; the Eagle however still retains all of its counter-air prowess, being widely regarded as the premier air-combat aircraft amongst aviation analysts.

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GIA Black Eagle
The Black Eagle fleet consists of newly produced aircraft of a similar specification to the 'Silent Eagle' promoted by Boeing. The name for the Black Eagle came about as a reaction to the Golden Eagle upgrade program. The attention paid to lowering the aircraft's sizeable radar and infra-red cross-section combined with the dark grey paint used to manage them resulted in the moniker of Black Eagle, the name stuck and became semi-official, being used to differentiate between other Eagle variants though the official name for the aircraft is still simply, Eagle.
The Black Eagle was typed as the CAT.4. Differences between the CAT.3 and CAT.4 include canted fins, application of HAVE GLASS V (PACER GEM / PACER MUD, ITO-wrapped canopy etc.) as well as the procurement of confomal weapons bays and enclosed weapon pods. In practice the bays are rarely fitted, 'naked' CFTs and a pair of EWPs being the more usual complement.

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GIA Venom
The Venom (Glasic: Nimh, lit. 'poison / venom') is a strike-orientated derivative of the General Dynamics latterly Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, and manufactured under licence by Glasic International Aerospace in concert with Elbit Banbha for the Royal Glasic Air Force, with a 70/30 split in manufacturing between the two companies. Initially entering service in 2005 in lieu of further Eagle procurement the Venom was optimised for the strike role to allow Eagles to be better committed to the air-defence role. Much like the Golden Eagle the Venom has undergone a substantial mid-life-upgrade necessitated by the deteriorating political situation in Vinya. The aircraft were upgraded in the same vein as their larger counterparts with large-area displays and standardised engines amongst other modifications.

The procurement cycle of the type was protracted with Glasic contractors arguing that they needed to build a new aircraft from the ground up in order to both retain and develop the skill of their engineers and, in turn, develop the Glasic aircraft industry. The end result of this ongoing argument between industry and government resulted in a hybrid solution of building an existing design to Glasic specification in Tír Glas, thus the Venom was born. Incorporating a much higher degree of composite materials in construction as well as outer-wing and centreline hard-points certified for air-to-ground ordnance, stronger landing gear and internal infra-red search and track / FLIR systems.

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GIA Goshawk
The Goshawk is an Advanced Short Take Off/Vertical Landing (ASTOVL) multi-role fighter. Powered by an engine utilising plenum chamber burning, the Goshawk was the first truly successful supersonic STOVL aircraft, not requiring lift engines or rockets. Initially entering service in 1997 the Goshawk initially was to directly replace both 1st and 2nd generation Harriers, they would however serve alongside 2nd generation Harriers until that type’s delayed retirement in 2014, thereby becoming Tír Glas's only STOVL aircraft, this brought about problems with fielding enough aircraft for both the naval and land-based roles, as such a further batch of aircraft was ordered, bringing the total ordered up to exactly 420. The entire fleet is currently fielded at FA.2 standard or a substandard thereof, there remains an active operational conversion programme for the type due to the different characteristics associated with the type compared with conventional aircraft, these make up two of three units fielding the twin-seat variant, the other using the type in the DEAD / SEAD role. The type like others has recently undergone a substantial mid-life upgrade and capability sustainment program, of all the types in service with the ARTG the Goshawk has consistently and continually been the most forward-deployed, being a near permanent fixture around Vinya since their introduction. Major aspects of their MLU are similar to that of the other major fast jets in that they have harmonised systems across the fleet, had their fatigue lives extended and obsolescent or outmoded systems replaced.

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Ordú Tacaíocht - Support Command

Boeing 777
Replacing ageing VC.10 AEW and tanking aircraft the 777 represents an step change in capability for both roles. The early-warning aircraft features in addition to its fixed rotodome an under-slung canoe fairing housing an MP-RTIP-derived system for SAR/GMTI and cruise missile tracking in addition to a highly sensitive infra-red detector atop the fuselage. Due to the size and cost of the platform the 777 has only been procured in relatively modest numbers with additional aircraft being based off of the G550 business jet or the 767.

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Gulfstream G550

Replacing a variety of legacy platforms the various modifications of the G550 fulfil the roles fulfil the airborne-early-warning, electronic intelligence, stand-off jamming and broad spectrum reconnaissance as well as being used in its original form as a VVIP transport.

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Cabhlach Ríoga de Tír Glas- Royal Glasic Navy
Seirbhís Aeir an Chabhlaigh - Naval Air Service

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Regards, Mark.

Shipbucket

Tír Glas - FD

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