Ireland’s Department of Defence has awarded Dassault Aviation a contract to procure the Falcon 6X jet to improve the military’s multi-purpose strategic reach.
Costing 53 million euros ($55 million), the aircraft will be stationed at the Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, and will be operated by the Irish Air Corps.
The plane’s assembly is now underway at Dassault’s production center in Bordeaux, France. The company is scheduled to deliver the jet in December 2025.
Irish Defence Minister Micheál Martin said during the contract signing that the aircraft will be a “game-changer” for different military applications, citing that the system’s functionality enables deployment from the country to the US west coast without refueling.
“It will be used for a wide range of tasks, including the non-combatant evacuation of Irish citizens from critical situations, air-ambulance patient transfers, medical evacuation or repatriation of Irish Defence Forces personnel deployed on overseas missions and logistics support for the transport of supplies to Irish Defence Forces overseas missions,” Martin explained.
“In addition, it will provide the independent and flexible air transport service which is an increasingly essential requirement to assist the government in meeting our national and international obligations.”
Dassault’s Falcon 6X
The Falcon 6X was first offered to market in November 2023 as an upgrade to Dassault Aviation’s early 2000s era Falcon 5X.
The jet measures 26 meters (85 feet) long with a capacity for up to 16 passengers or about 23,200 kilograms (51,147 pounds) of payload.
It is powered by twin Pratt & Whitney PurePower engines for a top speed of Mach 0.9 (1,111 kilometers/691 miles per hour) and a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,186 kilometers/6,329 miles).
For the Irish Defence Forces, the aircraft will be fitted with specialized Military Communications Systems that will be negotiated in a separate contract.
