SAN FRANCISCO, August 06, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) as one of the ongoing measures to further strengthen its air operational efforts to rid the northeast and the entire country of insurgents and terrorists say it is expecting the delivery of its 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack, combat and reconnaissance aircraft, which is being built at a production facility in Jacksonville, Florida, United States.
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, made this known while on a one-day operational visit to the 407 Air Combat Training Group (407 ACTG) Kainji, Niger.
“We are expecting the additional aircraft which have been paid for by the Federal Government,” he said.
The full fleet of the Super Tucano aircraft are currently in production by SNC and Embraer at the Jacksonville facility with delivery to Nigeria scheduled in 2021, THEWILL can report.
The CAS said that the aircraft is particularly important in the fight against insurgency.
The CAS was also briefed on the progress of work on the ongoing Periodic Depot Maintenance (PDM) of the Alpha Jets, the activation of the aircraft and the Engine.
Abubakar expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Alpha Jet PDM, as well as with the technicians working on the aircraft.
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“We are working to get the aircraft out as quickly as possible to add value to what we are doing,” he said.
Nigeria is trying to deal with the growing insecurity mostly in the northern part of the country with bandits, herdsmen and the Boko Haram causing a lot of problems.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been meeting with top military leaders to fix the problem. A few days ago, he ordered the military to rejig its operational structure in the area.
