A new €11 million Garda surveillance airplane that can eavesdrop on criminal gangs from a distance of up to 20km has begun its first missions, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.

The Garda Air Support Unit (GASU) took delivery of the new Viking 400 aircraft last December.

The state-of-the-art aircraft – which has been fitted with high-tech sensors, cameras, and tracking equipment to allow for advanced surveillance and patrols – has been conducting training exercises at the Air Corps HQ at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, Co. Dublin, in recent months.

And sources this week said that the plane – which will be piloted by members of the Air Corps – is now operational, with little more than a week to go before Ireland takes over the Presidency of the EU.

The aircraft, described as the ‘envy’ of police forces around the world, will play a key role in providing airborne surveillance over the course of Ireland’s six‑month presidency.

And the GASU will be further boosted over the coming weeks with the imminent arrival of two new Garda helicopters.

Sources said the elite surveillance aircraft – whose activities are kept top secret – will play a key role in the fight against organised crime gangs such as the Kinahan Cartel.

The GASU provides a 24-hour proactive and reactive service in support of operational gardaí on the ground and specialist units, and it is under the direction of the Assistant Commissioner, Organised and Serious Crime, Angela Willis.

A source said of the new aircraft this weekend: ‘It has been kitted out and is ready to be operational for the EU presidency which begins on July 1.

‘This plane is state-of-the-art. It can actually land on a piece of road, provided it has certain measurements, and take off on the same stretch.

‘It’s a surveillance plane and the technology is second to none.

‘Its [surveillance] capability alone is incredible.’

The source added that the two new helicopters will also ‘significantly’ increase the GASU’s ‘capacity to respond’.

The new choppers can also be used to rapidly transport elite armed units to various locations. They will replace the two current helicopters that are attached to the Garda aircraft fleet, which were delivered in 2001 and 2007.

‘The two helicopters are en route,’ the source added.

‘They will result in a massive increase in mobility and our capacity to respond.’

The overhaul of the GASU comes after Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan announced last year that the Government was investing more than €50million in new aircraft.

The Viking 400 cost €7million for the aircraft itself and its full mission suite installation. 

In addition, there is a 10-year maintenance contract valued at around €4million, bringing the total long-term investment close to €11million.

It is flown by two Air Corps personnel, with a team of specialist gardaí operating surveillance equipment in the aircraft’s rear.

It is designed to operate at high altitude, invisible to people on the ground, and it can remain in the air for several hours at a time.

The Viking’s Series 400 Twin Otter relaunched in 2010 with an ability to operate from unpaved or remote runways. It also offers expanded fuel capacity for up to nine hours’ endurance.

The surveillance aircraft replaced the Britten-Norman Defender 4000, which entered service with the Irish Air Corps in September 1997, to support the then newly established GASU.

Its primary role included crime prevention, search and rescue, traffic monitoring, and public order surveillance.

That aircraft served alongside GASU’s helicopter fleet until November 2023, when it went into storage at Lee-on-Solent in the UK, pending disposal.

In response to queries, a Garda spokeswoman said the fixed-wing aircraft was delivered in December 2025.

She added: ‘Delivery of the first of two helicopters is expected in late Q3, with the second helicopter due for delivery in Q4 of 2026.’