No fewer than 38 new aircrafts have been inducted into the inventory of the Nigerian Air Force to combat insurgency activities in the country.
Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, in the latest edition of the Airman, a magazine of the Nigerian Air Force, made the disclosure.
Amao explained that the latest addition to the fleet included the 12 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft recently acquired by the Nigerian Government.
He said while some of the aircraft had been deployed to tackle insecurity in some parts of the country, the others were being used to upscale its pilots’ training.
The Chief of Air affirmed that 173 pilots have been trained in the last six years with additional 155 student pilots undergoing training.
He said, “Prior to the coming on board of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in 2015, the NAF was in the pitiable state owing to neglect as most of its platforms were grounded or in states of disrepair.
“Officials initially offered to help but when the number of able-bodied citizens at the centre increased, they left us unattended to.
“The NAF can now boast of 38 brand new aircraft to tackle various security challenges and upscale its pilots’ training. The latest addition to the list is the A-29 Super Tucano aircraft which were recently inducted into the NAF order of Battle.
“The acquisitions and reactivation, as well as the emplacement of a robust logistics support structure, have enabled the NAF to raise the serviceability status from about 35 per cent in 2015 to about 72 per cent as of September 2021.
“The Force has introduced 11 new doctrines to guide its operations. The doctrines are based on analysis of the contemporary security environment as well as operational experiences.
“The competencies in the Air Force are now being guided by the doctrines.”
