A Nigerian Air Force C130-H30 on the tarmac at Kaduna prepares to depart for Mali
A Nigerian Air Force C130 Hercules(fore) and a French military transport plane at Bamako Airport
-
Archives
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
-
Meta
We cannot over emphasise the importance of having a mobile military. Now this crises in Mali has shown us how important the hercules C-130 is. We should hasten and fix the remaining broken down platforms and if it won’t be used immediately should be put in a flyable storage at least.
i agree the benefits that the Nigerian armed forces is reaping just from the image of their own c-130 transporting their own troops is incalculable on going
i see a tractor on the tarmac, second pic WTF!
It’s possible the Bamako airport doesn’t have a functional tug. So the tractor is an improvised answer! Weird!!!
Moreover ‘the tractor’ is a multi purpose machine not only for mechanised farming!
No you actually need the tractor based on my engineering experience . you actually need the tractor either to carry/ transport cases upon casesof ammunition or mortar shells on a flat bed or even to tow light vehicles( jeeps) out from the C-130S without starting the engine so as not to risk a fire
Nuff respect, Jimmy. For Safety reasons, the tractor is used mostly as a tug, as it is cheaper and offer various mission capabilities than a tug. Most expeditionary forces do carry one along on their flights into a hostile arena.
Nuff respect, Jimmy. For Safety reasons, the tractor is used mostly as a tug, as it is cheaper and offer various mission capabilities than a tug. Most expeditionary forces do carry one along on their flights into a hostile arena.
Apologies, Beeg! The server crashed as uploaded my comment. Please delete.
I’ve seen some tractors being used by some Pacific island nations in their airports as well….
Max
Reading Reuters take on the Logistical challenge facing the West African forces in Mali- http://mobile.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSBRE90O0C720130126, Isn’t it time for the MOD to look at our strategic heavy-lift capability. I do understand that our C-130′s are being reactivated but how about buying two-An 24 to boot to give us stretching capabilities. I am amazed that our fly-boys and their Government minders don’t think that within our geopolitical sphere of influence, this kind of air asset are not crucial in our quest for effective deployment. How much is an An-24 on low mileage sef?
Or heres another crazy idea, set up a Nigerian Cargo Airline, Considering how much load our people like to send home it will never be out of business have 2 servicing Europe, 2 Asia and 2 The Americas, unsing Antonovs etc, thus when we need a heavy lift capability we just charter fromn ourselves rather than paying the Russians and Ukrainians and also reduce freight costs to and from Naija for ordinary cargo.
Infrastructure is a strategic asset
Peccavi, its the same idea being touted on the maritime sector with the Cabotage law. Remember the old NNSL with our wonderfully named ships- my cousin was one of the first nigerian captain trained in Egypt then, well the whole idea was for us to have our own flagged ships, provide our own merchant navy capability and be a strategic assets to the country. Guess what, we never paid our bills! Same with NEPA, NITEL, Nigeria Airways and every single Nigerian owned conglomerate post-independence. Though, with Governor Fashola, showing us how PPP can be implemented, maybe and just maybe this crazy idea may be the answer.
It still boils down to our not following up on plans. A decade ago, we were in the hunt for 20 units of CN235 airlift planes, somewhat G222-sized with an incredible 5,500km range. We did not pursue that to fruition. The French have a unit in Chad as we speak.
A few years later, a Ukrainian news report which I saw online indicated that they were in talks with the FG for the sale of between two and three units of AN-124. They did not follow through on that either.
February begins next week. We have three C130s slated for reintroduction into service within the month.
In the early 1990s, the NAF actually operated skeletal commercial services using C130s, G222s and Dorniers. That was during the IBB era. It was however an internal service.
You are so right, Somoric. Rebates and complimetary tickets killed off Nigeria Airways. Same love for freebies also ran the NNSL into unprofitability.
Nigerian history records that as of 1979 when Obasanjo left office as a military dictator, we had 33 planes in the Nigeria Airways fleet and 19 oceangoing ships in the NNSL. By the time that he returned to power as elected President in 1999, all had hit ZERO
GAMBIAN TROOPS WARMING UP FOR MALI OPERATION
BANJUL, Jan. 26 (Xinhua)
Gambian soldiers are warming up to join the other West African troops and French forces for an International Support Mission for Mali, the military said on Saturday. “The troops have already completed their training exercise for more than three months and they are now waiting for official order to join their colleagues who
have already arrived these days,” it said in a statement.
It did not disclose how the Gambian
troops will be sent to the war-torn West
African nation, although plans are under
way for the Mali-bound deployment.
In July 2012 after his return from the 19th African Union (AU) summit in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, Gambian President
Yahya Jammeh vowed action against Al-
Qaida-linked rebels in Mali to ensure
peace and stability in the West African region. The rebels including Al-Qaida’s Maghreb branch AQIM occupied northern Mali in the aftermath of a military coup on March 22, 2012.
The conflict in Mali will be high on the
agenda of the summit of the African
Union to be held on Jan. 27-28, with a
theme of “pan-Africanism and African
Rebirth,” six months after the last summit devoted to “promoting intra-African trade.”