The Federal Government of Nigeria has procured 37 fighter jets and attack helicopters from United States and Italy, in a renewed bid to boost the fighting capacity of the air component of the military establishment.
Beyond the 12 A-29 Super Tucano fighter planes earlier procured from the United States in 2021, the State Department had in April 2022, also approved the sale of 14 attack helicopters to replenish the arsenal of the Nigerian Air Force.
This comes as military authorities said at the weekend that no Nigerian territory was under the control of terror group, Boko Haram or any other group for that matter.
THISDAY gathered that talks between officials of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Italian officials have reached an advanced stage for the procurement and delivery of 24 fighter jets. The attack aircraft are expected to replace aging Alpha jets of the Nigerian Air Force which were involved in recent air mishaps.
THISDAY further learnt that Nigeria had taken delivery of 10 J-7 fighter planes procured from China.
The fighter planes are presently being coupled at the Nigerian Air Force Base in Markurdi, Benue State, even as 200 pilots have so far undergone training in United States, United Kingdom, South Africa and Egypt, as part of the capacity building strategy of the Nigerian Air Force.Other aircraft purchased by government include L-39s, JF-17 and C-130.
This comes as spokesman of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said the federal government between 2015 and 2022, procured over 40 brand new aircraft with more than 50 fighter aircraft in the arsenal of the air force and ready for deployment. He said the military was prepared for any eventuality.
He stated that under the present administration, “the military has never had it so good,” in terms of rearmament. He stated that under the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, the air force had sustained a 75 per cent serviceability status of the NAF air fleet.
Gabkwet said the situation had greatly improved the joint operations of the armed forces led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor as well as the response time in emergency calls for air support and air interdiction in the fight against insurgency and armed banditry.
“There is great improvement in joint operations which is key to our operations. Reaction time in the case of ambush has greatly improved.“When there is an ambush from nowhere, the jet fighters will appear. This can be seen in the number of insurgents, who have surrendered,” he said.
The federal government had ordered the procurement of 24 M-346 Master aircraft from Italian aircraft maker, Leonardo.
The attack aircraft was worth an estimated €1.2 billion and would see the Italian jets replacing the aging Dassault Alpha Jet A/E in use by the Nigerian Air Force. Leonardo would provide aircraft, training, support, and amunitions for Nigeria as part of a sole-source. As a partnership, the Italian Air Force would train the Nigerian Air Force pilots at the International Flight Training School of Galatina (Lecce) and Decimomannu airbase (Sardinia) in Italy.
The United States government had in April approved the sale of advanced attack Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters worth nearly $1 billion. The State Department had announced the approval of the $997 million sale of 24 Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters and related equipment to Nigeria. The related equipment included guidance, night vision and targeting systems as well as engines and training support, the department had said in a notice to Congress.
Source: THISDAY
