PM NEWS
27 August, 2013
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is set to
deploy its war planes to fight piracy on
Nigerian waters. This was revealed yesterday during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and NAF at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Under the new working arrangement
between both parties, NAF airborne
assets namely the ATR 42 MPA, the Mi-35P, Augusta Light Utility Helicopters,
and where necessary, Alpha Jet aircraft
and associated platforms, will be deployed to complement NIMASA’s other
collaborative efforts with other
government agencies to fight criminal
activities on the nation’s territorial
waters.
Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh,
said at the MoU signing ceremony that
NAF has the capability to “go deep into
the sea to cover our EEZ (Exclusive
Economic Zone) and see what is
happening there.” The NAF Chief described as unacceptable, a situation where criminals carry out nefarious activities on the nation’s territorial waters with impunity.
“With this MoU with NIMASA, we will be
able to identify where the criminal
elements are, mount surveillance on their activities and make it more difficult for them to operate,” Badeh stated, even as he solicited financial support for research and development in the Air Force from NIMASA.
Speaking earlier, Director-General of
NIMASA, Mr. Ziakede Patrick
Akpobolokemi, said that, while the
agency has received support from NAF in
the past, it has become imperative to
formalise the working arrangement between both organisations. “This MoU that we are signing today will send a clear message to oil thieves and other criminals on our waters that their days are numbered,” Akpobolokemi said. He said that NIMASA will provide necessary logistics support and funding to the Air Force to maintain security on the waters.
“We won’t allow bureaucracy to cripple
implementation of this MoU,” the NIMASA helmsman stated, even as he expressed hope that oil theft will be substantially reduced over the next one year. He said: “The incidence of crude oil theft, sea robbery and piracy are the foremost reasons the agency has approached the Nigerian Air Force to strike a formidable operation framework that would enable the deployment of age-long air surveillance excellence of the Nigerian Air Force.
Recent successful joint operations of the agency with the Nigerian Navy (NN) and the Nigerian Air Force have given impetus to the need to consummate this partnership.
“As we formally endorse the agreement
to widen the nation’s frontiers of
maritime security, we expect that
legitimate shipping, oil and gas activities on Nigerian waters will begin to contribute immensely to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We assure the Nigerian Air Force that this MoU and its objectives will be pursued in the best interest of nation building and that of the Nigerian maritime industry.The high command of the Nigerian Air Force, led by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh, has openly demonstrated in this MoU that our marine resources and waterways hold the key to Nigeria’s economic development.”
NIMASA and NAF will cooperate in the
areas of Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance (ISR) operations; Search
and Rescue operations at sea; Tactical
Airlift Operations; and Enforcement
Action that include, but not limited to, anti-piracy, anti-smuggling; illegal
bunkering and illegal fishing activities.NIMASA has an existing MoU with the
Nigerian Navy which gave rise to the
establishment of the Maritime Guard
Command at NIMASA.
Meanwhile, kidnappings of sailors on
merchant ships in waters off Nigeria and nearby countries surged in the first half as pirates attacked a broader range of vessels and sought targets farther out at sea.
Pirates operating in the Gulf of Guinea,
believed to be operating from Nigeria,
kidnapped 30 crew in the period,
compared with three seized worldwide in 2012’s first six months, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), a London-based group tracking sea crime, said in a report in July.
Attackers previously tended to seek out
ships involved in the regional oil industry and now are targeting container ships and other merchant vessels, IMB said. The increase poses a new threat to trade at a time when naval forces, armed guards and better on-board security are quelling attacks off Africa’s eastern coast.
West and Central African leaders recently signed a code of conduct to repress attacks. “If these attacks are left unchecked, they will become more frequent, bolder and more violent,” IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan said in the report.
Beegeagle's Blog 
Good news. sometime last year the Nigerian Custom Service was to hand over air border patrol duties to NAF.Some surveillance aircraft were expected to be handed over but I don’t to what extent that has bn complied with. Pls confirm Gen. Good morning all.
Good plan….but ehmm…..hope dey dont plan on canibalising another NAF base to meet the demands of this mou?
funny.
Now that the Airforce is Working with Army, Navy, NIMASA, Customs Border Patrol and Soon the Police it is Imperative More Airframes Especially for Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaisance, Strike Force and Troop Transport are Acquired in the Shortest time possible……like in a Week if possible. I hope NIMASA can Get the Airforce some Airframes and We are Waiting till October as oga CAS said we should do and be surprised by their Revelations.
There was a lot of discussion here on March 11 about the Customs CJ4 Surveilance Jet with many cynical about its capability. Again, we see that airframe has not being handed over to the NAF. I now really think it is just a luxury jet without any surveillance capabilities. We’ve been conned…again.
Lol you mean the ‘business jet’
You never know they might be fitting it out before hand over
I want to believe that this is not just another hand shaking exercise where people just show up for the cameras.I have refrained from criticizing the C.O.A.F. because i feel personally he should be given more time and he has done / improved on quite a few things given to him by his predecessor meaning the cupboard was not bare when he got there.
We are not privy to the meetings he is having/ nor has had with the President and as AN Engineer I am trained not to guess but to draw logical conclusions based on the overwhelming evidence not on emotion.
The N.A.F. cannot provide ADEQUATE surveillance and DETERRENCE if the f.g. refuses to release funds to procure the right equipment that must be done
The right equipment involves:
* NINE HELIOS that are still parked in Russia
* a mixed squadron of SU-27/ SU30S dual fighter planes than have been deemed surplus to requirements by both the Russian and Belorussian govt which the Sudanese and soon the Ethiopians are snapping up while the NIGERIAN GOVT naps.
* We do not need to buy any heavy duty troop aircraft we just need to pay for the( repairs to our own) C-130S that we own to be refurbished, we cannot” beg our way “out of providing for our own security.
Yeah Kudos to the Marshall. He has made a difference. We probably need more than one squadron of air superiority fighters though. The neighbourhood has gotten a lot scarier over the last 12 months.
Buying of assets in tiny insignificant numbers has to stop. Imagine If Nigeria had 48 F-7s, which they follow up which 36 SU-30’s we would all feel a lot better.
oga eyimola, we need at least 2 squadron of JF-17 thunder (blk II) and an OCU squadron. minimum of 30 jets. if in the future we decide to go for the J10B or the more maneuverable SU-30/SU-35 we would also need them in significant numbers; at least 18.
the current F7 air guard should be relegated to point defence, that’s if only they can even get them air worthy.
apart from the extremely short time span of engine overhauls, russian fighter jets are excellent bar none! if we can shoulder the cost of flying these birds (thousands of dollars per hour), NAF can establish a little shop in kaduna with the assistance of the russians, to overhaul the engines locally without need to disassemble and send the engines to russia.
What about the DA42 diamond ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pzVAJJADcE a video link on the jf17 performing maneuvers
Our cameroonian brothers are getting new attack helis. I wonder how many.
http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31734:cameroon-orders-mi-17-helicopters&catid=35:Aerospace&Itemid=107
Obix says –Oga Triggah, i’ve been following that news from the time Cameroon sent their formal interest months ago. It’s like they are going for the transport versions of the mi-17.
On border security, at last it seems we are making a headway! http://www.punchng.com/news/terrorism-fg-plans-special-corps-to-protect-borders/
“obi3000” -This me, Obix!
Check out NAF’s ATR going into the hanger. You can clearly see the surveilance pods on the airframe.
when are we going to start overhauling these airframes in kaduna or some other places in this country. are we not tired of sending scarce platforms overseas for repair and general overhaul? NAF need to develop in a wholistic manner. by now we should be buying jets and assemble them locally.
Just wondering if the Israelis could dust of their nammer design, update it and mate it with the J10 version of the AL 31FN or the RD33 and see how it compares with the J10 and J17
and you think the americans will allow them? the americans will never let them be a direct competitor with the usa fighter jets and air platforms. moreover, they are milking the american mil-ind complex as contractors and subcontractors to several defence projects.
rather than build an identical competition, they will rather prefer to add ‘local content’ to their american built fighters such as the teen series fighters that they presently field.
they re already lobbying for the F-22 raptor, which is not on sale to any nation yet, not even japan which is normally premiere destination for state-of-the-art usa armament materiel. israel comes second since theirs is mostly ‘dash’ and subsidized defence sales.
but i guess you are right gen ifiok, the J10 is a copy of old israeli design that was shelved due to american pressure.
@eyimola you hit the nail on the head for the choice of Su-30MKI and a chinese designed fighter jet for the NAF!
The J10 is a blend of the Isreali Lavi,Euro-canards-Typhoon,Gripen and the Rafale as well as the Pakistani F-16A.
This is the aircraft that appeals to my soul the most. My head however say we should get the SU-30MKI
To be more specific, The J10B, should/would fit the bill. I Know for sure that it has characteristics of the Israeli Lavi and somewhat close to the F-16, some sources claim that the Chinese paid the Israeli’s for info on the Lavi project
As a matter of National Defence and pride,I would expect the FG to modernise our jaguar jet fleet and then acquire the JH-7B strike fighter from China to enhance our strike capability.
Sukhoi 27 and 30MK Frogfoot and Flanker their NATO Codenames and we can add Mil 17s which we need in Squadrons, Acquire an Inflight Fueling Craft, J-10 and Yak-30 and we have a preety Decent Airforce.
Now that we can upgrade C-130s and Alpha Jets lets go to Rotor Wing And also work on those.
AirForce we dey wait for October 1st ooo Make una no dissappoint pls….
While i i like the Idea of the Yak 130’s, remember that it’s a subsonic plane, don’t you think a combination of Yak’s and L-15 will be good?,Especially in this era of Supersonic anti air craft missiles
the MKI is the indian version and the most advanced version of the SU-30 series.
@oga Gbash10 no JH-7 please. a rugged and tactical attack aircraft like the SU-25 is sufficient to our needs. if they do not see the need to procure the frogfoot, then our jags need to be brought back to full service.
1.CRATE the JAGUARS off to INDIA
2. Procure the SU25 .
3. Procure the SU27/ 30 depending on availabilty
4. Either reactivate the MB105s or acquire more MI35GUNSHIPS.
oga jimmy, add to that list, we can also get ex Luftwaffe MB105s also. these little birds are critically needed in the northeast. NA and NN can take the initiative should the air force display nonchalance on this topic. they, the navy and army, both have big ambitions for aviation. adding the BO105s to their fleet (in the case of NN) will significantly boost their capabilities.
Greetings gentlemen. Have anyone checked out the Su 35? That is said to be the definitive and the last flanker! The chinese are billed to get about 2 squadrons of these babes. http://www.milavia.net/aircraft/su-35/su-35.htm
The mki is actually a multinational multirole bird as it contains bits of israeli, french etc systems. That brings me to a thought I’ve had for a while now, why don’t we deal with the Italians? They have a better business relationship keeping mindset. As long as the west exist, we need them as they need us! Even the Chinese have bought black hawks and hummers from the american and daupins and super frelons from the french. The russians just inked a deal with agusta westland to design and build a 2.5ton copter. India, indonesia and malaysia deals with both sides.
Finally, for strategic purpose, we can’t put all our eggs in one basket, remember, no permanent friends, just permanent interest.
Oga Ifiok, as far s China is concerned, they were once in the 90’s under Arms embargo from the EU and US and so depended heavily on Russia to meet their needs, they learned and have now grown to be world players as far as Military Equipment are concerned. If/When we develop our indigenous capabilities to a good level, some of these politics that we see every day would not be a problem to us. CHINA,INDIA,RUSSIA, top my list, then Pakistan, Ukraine etc and probably little from the West. Remember that the Italians were ‘friends’ of a former dictator in Africa and we saw how the friendship ended ( That’s not to say that i am a supporter of the dictator)
Gen Freegulf, u remember that the nammer was a proposed kfir variant with lavi jet sensors and systems with engine options ranging from the American F404 to the French mirage 2000 engine. That is the RD 33 engine class and all it would take would be to fix the j17 variant of that engine plus some aerodynamics twigging. All the other components have been sold from the radar through the cockpit to the weapons and DASH system. I think it was the money as they had asked for $25m per piece and this was in the early 90s when cheap good condition tokumbo vipers, hornets, fulcrums and flankers were available
Folks,
Lets stop going on about the Jaguars. They have being grounded for 20 years and cannot be reactivated. The offer of sale came up with no bidders to take it off NAF’s hands.
Upgrade the Alpha jets again? The airframe life must be almost expired by now so let NAF fly it and eventually time expire it. The various discussions above about what to procure next are not supported by a practical sense of what NAF can fly & maintain or not.
as they refuse to procure any new jet, we have to start looking at the next best economical option. most folks here would prefer the SU-25s as ground attack jet and the SU-30 for air superiority. likewise LUH and LAH, there are new products in the market. but with reality starring at us, we have to either beg for the reactivation of the BO105 fleet or procurement of the ex Luftwaffe type.
regarding the jags, depending on condition of storage, they can still be reactivated. like i said before, some of these jets, like the jaguars and the 339s where not grounded by sanctions, but rather by cost of operating them, as ibb decided to de-fang the air force.
as far back as the early 90s, the 339s where already put on sale because NAF couldn’t keep them operational. this was when we had them in calabar. then, there where no full arms sanctions (some limited american sanctions due to narc trafficking problems), the enemies of progress then where; IBB, IMF, and of course, the near collapsed state of the nigerian economy,
You mentioned ‘best economical option’. The Jaguars were delivered in 1984, almost 30 years ago and flown till 1991. The Indians have flown theirs longer but continously. When NAF Jags were first put up for sale, flown hours were very low. Some were hangered , others in the open at Makurdi (you could see them on Google Earth and in the for sale adverts). Then there’s engines (same as the Alpha’s but with afterburners), where are you going to get those now? The avionics, nav/ attack systems etc must be obselete by now. Lets be real, the potential cost of a refurb will NOT make sense.
Gentlemen, while we pursue options for our armed forces, we remember that while our army and navy can manage some platform, the air force are not so graced as a malfunction in the could translate to a crash of the platform or perhaps the death of the pilot which is worse. Every aviation asset is like a drug and it has expiry date. Take for example the Su27 flanker; most we built in the late 80s through the early 90s(b4 the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The shelf life of the airframe of these type is 4000 hours. I know that the russians build them rugged but metals will ultimately surrender to fatigue. Questions like cost of operation, maintenance, mean time between overhaul, potential of upgrade and it cost etc should be consider.
On that note, perhaps 30 to 44 new built mkis or 35 would be in order copled with some 36 mittens or it chinese equivalent if they good enough(sorry, I’m not so confident with chinese)
Gen ifiok, nice brainstorming. but do you think NAF is that creative, resourceful, or even serious enough for well thought out strategies like these. i think the lack of immediate threat, at a country level is a major disservice to our leaders. now the same is no longer valid. we have the gulf of guinea to protect as this region is fast becoming very strategic. are we still going to bury our heads in the sand, while our national security is fast becoming undermined?
if we do procure either of the chinese fighters, we have the chance to kit these warplanes to our desired limit, from italian Grifo radars, to french sagem avionics, to israeli HMCS, to IFR and CFTs. wide array of options giving us the best package for these fighters. but i doubt NAF will go all shopping spree on these procurement. the MOD will hardly release monies for top in the line package. it will be chinese weapons and chinese avionics.
Gen Freegulf,well said man,well said.
Gentlemen – intresting dicussions. Oga AOK- I still believe that we should refurbish our Jaguar Jets and return them to front line service as Ground attack/reconnaisance platforms. These aircraft were bought brand new and were hardly used before being mothballed. The Indians have upgraded their whole fleet of Jaguar jets. I dare say we could strike a deal with them and do the same- and before you go on about their being obsolete, pleease remember that they are not being employed in an air superiority fighter or interceptor role- just being used as ground attack/reconnaisance aircraft. I would also have you know that the Argentine Airforce is purchasing about 18 Mirage F1 fighters (plus a simulator) that has just been retired b the Spanish Airforce (who are moing on to block 2 Eurofighters (typhoon). The F1s were in the spanish inventory for about 38 years (yes THIRTY EIGHT YEARS) and will serve as frontline fighters with the Argentine Airforce. Thus renovating our Jaguar Jets (rather than letting them rot) will be a good idea. I also feel that the recently retired two NAF Fokker 27s used in a maritime patrol role (and now replaced by the ATR-42MP) should be reactivated and transferred to the navy to act as fixed wing maritime patrol aircraft. Let’s effectivel utilise what we have until we get new purchases .
Greetings brothers, Gen Yags, good 2 knw that u’re here. Look at this scenario. Boko boys conduct a hit and run and in hot pursuit a Naf alpha strike (among several) results in the death of a Camerounian unit and the Camerounian gov evokes their French defence pact. A mixed squadron of rafale and mirage 2000 show up in Cameroun along with 2 companies of the French Legion as well as an anti aircraft company armed with the mica VL and mistral sam. However, the boko boys still conduct hit and runs and the french can’t intervene since that isn’t included in their rules of engagement. Mean while, down south, a camerounian flagged vessel is highjacked of Bakassi and the Camerounians intervenes and are slaughtered by ex MEND pirate. Also killed are the French captain and 8 other European crewmen including 2 French men. The French quietly redirect from off the coast of Libya a horizzon class destroyer escorted by a La Fayette class frigate. 3 days later, a Totalfinaelf vessel is hijacked of the coast of Lagos and 80km from the French mini task force position and 3km within our territorial waters and it 2am. On board the French ships are a unit of their parachutist marine commando and 2 cougar copters, the NNS Thunder is some where off the Maldives in the Indian ocean and the ATR 42 MR asset is packed in the air force wing of the MMA. Time is ticking…
mon general, even the above scenario is too tensed! our political leaders will secretly sign off our EEZ to the french, just like pakistani politicians signed off their airspace to usa drones, and we will become another somalia, with NATO, chinese and russian navies patrolling our coastline.
imagine some islamic jihad terrs with bases in northeast nigeria, chad and the sudan. just maybe chad decided not to play ball or even provide air bases, how are we going to strike their bases in the sudan (with sudan and tchad taking turns in denying every swift end to the incursions and even denying the existence of these terrs grps in their home countries)? with A-jets?
this is why we need the SU-30 for deep strike, reconnaissance and air superiority role. gone are the days when our leaders rest on their oars believing that we have no immediate strategic threat. the 21st century presents so many complications and challenges. we need a modern fighter jet, not only for attack and point defence, but critically, for deterrence.
Bros, this na horror dream nah.
rily how many birds does the NAF have in its inventory
Oga AOK, i appreciate ur deep analysis and knowledge. well done.
however, just like oga yagz, we have to disagree on the utilization of the jaguar sepecat jet. like oga yagz mentioned, these jets are purely ground attack (and possibly maritime role. depending on if we get radar version for AshM) jets, so even though it isn’t the best in the market, it is enough for the task at hand. yes, it is underpowered, but we can change that. with honeywell engines, the aircraft can receive a huge boost in capability. do not forget its got a decent range and good payload.
why waste these jets when they barely have 150 hours tops on them!
as for the ‘economic option’, except you can convince us that upgrading less than 2 dozen jets with 4th gen package will be a waste of foreign currency (our foreign currencies are no longer scarce!), then i think it is a good idea to reactive the jag fleet.
my only reservation is NUMBERS!! the IAF has over 120 of these jets, so spending good money to upgrade them is a good option. on our part, we have to at least know how much these upgrades will cost; multi mode radar, glass cockpit, radar warning receiver, new turbofan engines, electronic warfare and navigation suite. if after all considerations, these upgrades seem fair ( cheaper than getting newer and modern FGA jets) then i say we should go for them.
wrt service life of these jets, it shouldn’t be a problem. the pakistanis still operate mirage3/5s. they even got retired australian and mothballed libyan mirage 3s and 5s. this same air force operates chinese made mig 19s until very recently. some of these aircraft where well past 40 years in PAF fleet.
The numbers are exactly why the Jags are never going to be a viable option. I don’t know the exact numbers. but I don’t think there are more than 20 airframes.
If my memory is right, the Jags are about 18, which is way out of it as far as i am concerned, The MiG 35’s seem to be another great option. Purchasing these planes is one thing, getting large numbers considering Nigeria’s size is another.
with the initial upgrades of the A-jets, NAF was looking at 2015 to retire the alphas for good. but with no replacement planned (even if we get the L-15s or YAK-130s their numbers might not be sufficient FCU role and FGA role), it is highly unlikely that NAF would shelve the A-jets in 2015. moreover, with more of them becoming air worthy, our love affair with this venerable jet will surely continue past 2015.
The Alphas are probably going to be utilised in a ground attack\maritime patrol role. We still need point air superiority fighter jets. Personally I don’t see any reason why the reactivation of the fighter jets should in any shape diminish the obvious requirement for a modern fighter to replace the Jags..
hmm, oga eyimola, this is the Nigerian air force you are talking off o. not SAAF or Egyptian air force.
where will the ‘allocation money’ come from? this is a country that its foreign reserve readily tops $60 billion and still yet, our defence sector is lagging behind every other comparable country (geographic size, population, economy, geopolitics). our excuse? competing demands, how ludicrous.
our leaders still do not know how important the gulf of guinea presently is. if they do, they will either cut shoddy deals, or arm our military properly!
I put up that scenario bc purpose will help clarify issues. When we got a squadron of j7s,(minus the safety issue) I was wondering what they were for! That was the period that the Ethiopian, Eritean, Sudanese and south African air forces were inducting new (tukumbo except the SAs). The horn of africa neibour understood the need as it bordered on survival. Over here, we don’t plan for the rainy day like the South Africans neither will we go out and get rain coats or umbrellas! Look how not maintaining our logistics setup has cost us in the north east or the limited strike options (and u can say that about all the other sectors) yet we are still having this discuss. Sad
Gentlemen, I beg your pardon to burst a myth about the Alpha jet as found on this blog; the Alpha jet in service in the NAF is NOT optimized for MARITIME ROLE. The first indication (erroneously) was in ‘www.Airliners.net’ site and this had to do more with new camo on the A-jet which tended to blend with equatorial vegetation when looking down. From Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) point of view, there is no difference between heterogeneous (land) and homogeneous (sea) theatre of operation, but (and a big but), the sea imposes additional factor to already burden pilot which is ‘NAVIGATION’. A pilot that has survived a “MERGE” will easily fly the nap of the sea into oblivion. NAF Alpha jet does not have any such Radar device INSTALLED, nor is there any radar installation to guide fast jet over the sea. A-jet operations as it concern maritime role in Liberia and Serra Leone was the personal conduct and bravery displayed by our pilots.
Gbash10, on the MB339A jets (my thoughts only) I would upgrade and dispose them off because they are ‘nimble’ fighters with unacceptable combat range and are very similar to L-39 Albatross. As I posted on an earlier thread, let the NAF move the A-jets to a dedicated light fighter bomber unit, induct new 4th generation trainer jet to replace the A-jet at Air Weapons School.
freeegulf, I also agree with you on deterrence grounds, also ‘multirole’ is the way to go because NAF cannot afford to many platforms with their attendant cost to personnel and maintenance.
ifiok umoeka, I understand your scenario from a partial or full spectrum aerial operations but engaging in a deep discuss here may aid or embolden any potential enemy. Maybe you may need to narrow it any specifics.
Oga 44, if we, the French or our neibour for that doesn’t know that already then they are dumber than I thought. That it hasn’t happened already is courtesy the cost be it political or economical and perhaps we need it to happen otherwise we’ll never wake up from this self induce hallucination. However, I take ur comment to heart
U see, the trend is not to hype a particular platform but to rather think in terms of the entire system. If we are still stuck with this platform is better than that, when will we begin to talk about the entire network? When do we talk about air borne early warning sys or dedicated EW sys? When we ought to have built on something, we’re. Still stuck with when do we build what!
Look at what happened to the Argentine aif force after the Falkland (malvinas) island war. Today, I wonder if given the A list platforms, if they could put it to good us! Why, because air combat from recon through interception to strike is an art and it takes time to master art especially when master with their valuable experience are either dead or too old to teach. U see, u don’t buy experience, u build it, no wonder the Israeli air force keeps making the top 10 every year.
We need to look at the big picture, we need to think strategic and in terms of short to long term. We need to evaluate and reevaluate our treat analysis. We need to dream up the worst and prepare for it while we hope for the best. We need to ask who our friends, enemies and frenemies in someone’s words (can’t remember who) and draw up contingencies to accommodate them. At least we could try to make it a little adventurous for ‘them’.
Fellow Cyber Generals- I hail una!! please keep up the good work. The articles/comments are quite incisive. Oga Ifiok- you should write a war thriller novel. The scenario you painted is quite realistic and I was really hooked reading it!!- Looking forward to the sequel (LOL!). On another note- the NAF MUST induct a decent Air Superiority fighter like the SU-30 into it’s inventory. Check this article on the Defence Web Website: http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=318…
SAAF must get BVR capability to be relevant on the African Continent. That guys is strategic and long term thinking/planning, which is not based on your neighbours current ORBAT.
Then moving to the gulf of guinea, Benin our neigbour has contracted a US private maritime security companty (AdvanFort) to undertake anti-piracy patrols off it’s coast: http.//www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=318…. (I hope I got the web page citations correct- but if not check them out on the Defence Web website). The Govt should hang its head in shame that Benin our neighbour cannot rely on the Nigerian Navy to patrol its territorial waters- because the govt refuses to adequately fund the purchase of platforms (new and old) to do the jjob. Food for thought…..
Beep-to-Bang is an interesting architecture in a battlespace and we also were early to put up a small blueprint with the help of the Israelis for an economic approach to maritime surveillance of the Niger Delta region and Nigeria coastline for example. We contacted the Israelis and they help us draw up a schema which brought about the acquisition of UAVs, both aerial and sea borne platforms, their control nodes and networks spread along the Nigerian coastline. This was to be supplemented by ATR-42 MPA, equipped with open system bus architecture for interoperability of telemetry systems. The Americans frowned at what happened principally because according to them, MoD did not engage in an open bidding process to allow American firms with similar UAVs characteristics to compete but rather went straight to contact an Israeli businessman to execute same. Now You can understand why the Fusion center we have established (to pacify them) is heavily an American design and implementation. While the ATR-42 can see in real time with on-board systems anything below it, it cannot do the same for aerial targets because it has no airborne radar system for early warning purposes and remember that this system was conceived by the NAF to gather intelligence for tactical ground interdiction roles.
Then the ‘devil we didn’t invite’ joined the party namely; officials with ‘lack of fund’ gospels, competing demand postulators, purse string controllers crippled the full implementation of the concept. We had ten years to implement, operate and gain valuable experience but ‘We’ as a nation and govt. foundered. The world of UAVs technology was watching us to gain valuable experience because our concept was ‘NOVELL’. Now we have serious security problems with intelligence gathering (both electro-optical and signal) capability and we cannot bring to bear the full potential of the assets in operational service to solve them.
So what can we do, I propose transferring two from Presidential fleet (no need to purchase new ones) and sent it to an outfit/firm to configure the airframe with appropriate radar system with open architecture systems for aerial surveillance and early warning purposes. More fusion centers to be established at different locations with long range surveillance radar systems. Any airplane or ship acquired should be equipped with compatible systems for interoperability and especially offensive platforms are equipped with telemetry subsystems so that our warfighters can act on precise and updatable information conveyed by these subsystems. And lastly Fed Govt. through her agencies be seen to take security issue seriously with long funding and not behave as if they are predicting election results.
Fantastic stuff. We can pull a GV and Falcon for modification. Wait o, what will our over pampered politicians ride on to their daughter’s weddings in Europe and elsewhere? Seriously though, did NAF show a lack of foresight in not adding an airborne element to the ATR suite? I guess this would have meant a radome on top of the fuselage. Crucially, real time data should also mean having strike aircraft or UAVs on a ready alert status.
No AOK, there was nothing to suggest short-sightedness, but rather it was cost factor and availability of suite or e
xnur44,
Thanks for the heads up. Very concise and professional.
No AOK, there is suggestion of short-sightedness on the part of NAF but cost factor and availability of suite and equipment mix. What is installed in our ATR-42 is the same configuration operated by the Italian Customs and yes a radome or blade antenna would have been installed. So as you can infer, the Alpha-jet or any offensive platform cannot be used in a quick reaction mission out to sea except such platform is put on runway readiness 24/7.
correction: …there is no suggestion…
Got a question sorry to questions like to hear your view/ take on this
Based primarily on your experience with dealing with both of them( the AMERICANS and the ISRAELIS, who actually puts Nigeria’s interests after theirs?. OGA EYIMOLA &myself have had this on again off again ” DISCUSSION ” my belief is that every country looks after it’s own strategic interests and no country is totally independent ( i am not really speaking for him but because of our bitter experience in the 90s embargo oga eyimola prefers we do not deal with the Americans/ western world unreliable ( true) that we should look east always .I on the other hand believe that is not realistic or pragmatic to make matters worse our own people” wey no dey like put hand for pocket” continually undermine both of us.What is your view// also can you comment on the refurbished alphas, is it realistic to say we can start maybe “when shame catch them “to start with the su 25 to the su27 and then to the su 30?
xnur44,
I’m trying to read between your lines but I might be wrong, being the cynic I am. Let me ask if you think the Customs Citation meant to be handed over to NAF for surveilance has compatibility with existing air force system (ATR, land based systems etc? Indeed is it has any systems?
A committee was set up by the Air Force to oversee the transition and full integration of aerial assets handed over to them, these platforms have electro-optical based systems installed as per Custom service requirement.
Both of You are telling the truth.
Jimmy, please understand that Eyimola does not like military embargoes and he voraciously hold dear the security of Nigeria, but when one dabbles into the realm of diplomacy, one tend to realise the spongy and sleazy relationships therein. The answer to your last concern is that since we acknowledge that there exist serious air defence capability gap in our airspace, the multirole Su-30 series will be lead contender. It can undertake missions that other mentioned platforms do so well.
When a decision as to what platform is eventually chosen, what role shall it play in any emerging battlespace?
http://ntanews24.tv/News/Africa/2013/SEPTEMBER/SEPTEMBER10/COAS%20Visits%207%20Div.html
Yakz bro, u flatter me, let’s hope that’s more from where that came from.
44 well though out and delivered, however, civilian converts will never be able to sustain operational tempo compared to military purpose built platforms. Maybe as a stop gap but long term, we need 3 more ATR 42s.
AOK pampered politicians… weddings in Europe… U got me cracking up. Keep this up and we send u 2 nite of 1000 laughs.
But seriously guys, I thought that there’s such a thing as gov to gov dealings and contract but u can’t under estimate the ability of our gov and reps to kissing others behind rather than do what’s best 4 us
Sirs, I tend to agree with the position that the Jags should be retired for good, knowing what it could cost in Naija terms to refit and upgrade them. Such a decision will only make certain people line their pockets and knowing Naija for what we are, we would thereafter not even contemplate of getting a 4.5 generation multi-role fighter for the next 10-15 years because of the “cost”.
If the air force finally decides to spend the money on new acquisitions, which we really have to do except we want to deceive ourselves, let them just get 4.5 generation multi-role fighters @ the very minimum. A mix of Suhkoi, MIG or Thunder might do for varying cost reasons.
My fear is that fighters the generation of Jags have been phased out globally except with respect to India which seems to have perfected the skill of keeping them airworthy. If we refit them we will definitely be stuck with them for a long while.
Let us just resort to acquiring more modern airframes and worry about how to maintain them rather than also thinking of how to prolong their serviceable years after spending a huge chunk of funds on re-fit and upgrades.
I believe it’s time for the air force to move to the next level. If the pressure is kept up unrelentingly, they just might take the step. my humble submission
After reading oga tunde’s post, I’m swayed towards his line of thought. if the jag’s are refitted as we have suggested, it would mean no 4.5 gen fighter for the airforce for the next 15 years. We know the sort of country we come from. Point number (2) is, considering the amount the indians must have invested in up-grading their JAG’s, nigerian authorities, if they were to go for up-grades, would must likely not get the same specs on the indian JAG, we might settle for an up-grade under the standard specifications. So we would be left with a jet that is not only out-dated in age, but also in specificaAfter reading oga tunde’s post, I’m swayed towards his line of thought. if the jag’s are refitted as we have suggested, it would mean no 4.5 gen fighter for the airforce for the next 15 years. After reading oga tunde’s post, I’m swayed towards his line of thought. if the jag’s are refitted as we have suggested, it would mean no 4.5 gen fighter for the airforce for the next 15 years. We know the sort of country we come from. Point number (2) is, considering the amount the indians must have invested in up-grading their JAG’s, nigerian authorities, if they were to go for up-grades, would must likely not get the same specs on the indian JAG, we might settle for an up-grade under the standard specifications. So we would be left with a jet that is not only out-dated in age, but also in specificaAfter reading oga tunde’s post, I’m swayed towards his line of thought. if the jag’s are refitted as we have suggested, it would mean no 4.5 gen fighter for the airforce for the next 15 years. We kno
Oga Jimmy, I think that we should lean towards Nigeria as Nigeria will always put Nigeria’s interest 1st. We don’t want to lean eastward or westward for that matter. That’s why we should pay close attention to what the Indians and Brazilians have done so far! The most important lesson is to believe in urself, BUILD UR ECN and DEV UR INDUSTRIAL capacity. Then have some ambition.
That said, the Israelis finding themselves in a hostile world tend to stick to ‘friends’ when they find one and would only put up with American … Because the Americans u must agree have been the most consistent and dependable ‘Friend’ they’ve got.
that is because the know ‘how to press their button’. the israelis got a massive hold on the americans. and for the sake of national interests, they know how to play realpolitik.
we should depend on our selves and try to create good working relationships with other countries. we have never really been caught in the whole east/west palaver. non aligned 🙂
Exactly
However, it’ll take a while b4 we shake the West’s hold on us because of our WEAKNESS
Oga Xnurr44, your posts are always insightful. well said. regarding oga ifiok’s brilliant postulation, it is quite understandable that a veil of secrecy still shrouds nigerian military operations, doctrine, and orbat. however, what ifiok presented is highly possible, its all sheer reality. the french knows this, our neighbours if they are concerned, know this also. and it wouldnt escape the fascination and imaginations of groups and other outside parties interested in the gulf of guinea.
yes our military likes playing their cards close to their chest. but anyone (coy, grp, country) that has even the slightest interest in DEFSEC can easily lay all these ‘secrets’ bare. in the long run, it does not even help the armed forces because their secrecy is seen as potency to untrained minds. remember the clueless senator asking about migs in markudi?
we need a multirole fleet of jet fighters, with a good hi/lo mix of capable air superiority fighter and rugged ground attack aircraft.
oga ifiok, we used to be quite independent in thoughts and actions. in the past, we followed our own created path. but sadly, today, we sign every single document and treaty that there are to sign. we are signatories to all and sundry. our vision and geostrategy are in the gutters!!
rather than configuring the NCS (their luxury executive jet) jet for aerial patrol, we should just order at least, 3 more ATR42s from the italians. this time, with AEW&C package rolled in. CASA and Embraer provide similar options. but for the sake of logistics, the italian and israeli package would be preferably suited as premier choice
regarding the israeli package, NAF need the Aerostat surveillance system for border patrol and control of delineation line. they are very affordable and would go a long way in alleviating the headaches of porous border and coastal gaps.
with the induction of a contemporary multirole platform, for the sake of efficiency, there will be obvious needs for aerial refueling and AEW&C system. no half measures. if we are to play a significant role as an african power house (not simply west africa), there is need to properly equip our armed forces, with the air force leading the way!!
After reading oga tunde’s post, I’m swayed towards his line of thought. if the jag’s are refitted as we have suggested, it would mean no 4.5 gen fighter for the airforce for the next 15 years. We know the sort of country we come from. Point number (2) is, considering the amount the indians must have invested in up-grading their JAG’s, nigerian authorities, if they were to go for up-grades, would must likely not get the same specs on the indian JAG, we might settle for an up-grade under the standard specifications. So we would be left with a jet that is not only out-dated in age, but also in specifications.
We can only watch and hope that whatever we are going to get in the next year or two, would atleast meet the aspiration of our current needs, and not become a total disaster like the F-7ni.
AOK shares the same line of thought as oga tunde. there is in fact sense in what they said. it was why i mentioned ‘economic option’. if the refitting is viable, yes, we should go for it.
it was the lack of (known) fighter procurement program for the air force that brought the issue of the jag (and other platforms like the BO105s) to forefront for upgrade. it was more or less the last resort option as NAF refuses to aggressively pursue a multirole option.
moreover, if NAF does get the JF17 thunder, we would still need a ground attack jet to fulfill the deep strike role. so, on the one hand, chinese fighter jets, plus refitted jags. on the other hand, russian sukhois and chinese J10B or JF17 blk II. a hi/lo mix is necessary for any functioning air warfare utilization.
Oga Henry, sorry but for strategic diversity, we need not pick the j10 and j17. That’s the point that the Indonesians, Malays and Indians understand and can afford. Pakistan only pursues that mix because they are short of options. Even at that, they still have F16s and refurbished Mirage Vs.
May I repeat this 4 the X time, we can afford what we need and we do have alternatives. The problem is lack of strategic depth, creativity and vision. We don’t need to dole out $5bn at one, we can plan for it and pay in consignment.
@ Freegulf, I think that’s the sys the Azerbejani have (I mean the aerostat surveillance sys)
I say go for the Su 35 or the 30, get proper AEW/C, tankers. Get every thing we need over time, maintaining a credible minimum deterrence as we build. Get training and maintenance facility, develop doctrine. Go all the way but build it up as u go.
How do we fund this? Well, I think that 70% recurrent expenditure doesn’t make any sense if u get what I mean
On paper, the ATR being overhauled in Edinburgh is 50% of our maritime patrol assets, unless there are other such assets I dont know about. The proliferation of different platforms must be a logistical nightmare in sourcing parts, ammunition and crew training. The costs must be HUGE and allied to, as someone wrote earlier, our propensity to ‘vanish’ money means that what is left, will not be much. Therefore I forsee any new fast jet acqusitions will not be more than 20 airframes, if that. Don’t expect the latest equipment nor will these be fully kitted out with avionics. I suspect,that in the here and now, there will not be many of the equipment NAF has now, that will be functioning in three years time. Feel free to attack me now!
Oga AOK, I guess your views were based on the track record of our armed forces as a whole. It’s true that we will always have some platforms serviced abroad. I agree with oga Freegulf, because in the past few years a lot of platforms have been revived and most importantly with a huge local input. From the F7NI to the A-jets, from the revived IFVs we saw during NADCEL 2013 to the OPVs ordered from China, we are seeing a different approach from our top brass, who have understood the need not to fall all into the mess we faced in the 80s and 90s. I believe the NAF will go for airframes with specifications that can be “managed” mostly locally. I see that as the new procurement and maintenance strategy by the FG and MOD!
oga AOK, you feel quite bitter lol, but there the truth is right there. you are on point regarding the number (for new airframes) of jets that NAF can possibly induct. wrt avionics, i mentioned something along this line. we have options but might end up with basics because MOD peeps re too tight fisted. however, your assertion regarding present equipment is quite debatable, and i am tempted to say, well off mark. improvement, appreciation and habitual maintenance have been imbibed in this contemporary armed forces. and with the growth of in-house overhaul of platforms, the bad days are well and truly behind us.
Freegulf my brother, I’m not bitter, frustrated with the whole thing maybe. Go back up this thread and Jimmy being spot on with analysis. In essense, what people on this site wish NAF to have as opposed to what NAF can have is my point.
’48 F7s + 36 Su-30s’
‘2 squadrons of JF17s and minumum of 30 jets’
‘Get Israelis to dust of their designs and merge the J10 etc’
All the above isn’t going to happen. There is world politics in terms where we can buy or not. There’s our own tendency to sell our souls for money. We discard people so easily so often we are always in transition. Let us hope as you say, that I am wrong and we now have a NAF maintenance infrastructure. The great thing about the internet is its online footprint where we can call on previous discussions of years gone by to measure progress or failure.
Greetings sirs, @ AOK, in the late 70s, we invested in the MEKO 360 design quietly taking the lead in what was to become a mainstay;modular designed and built vessels. We picked up corvettes, FAC(m), transport, trainers, closs support, strike and interceptors aircraft etc, we had MBTs, APC(tracked and wheeled), SP arty etc. We trained and held exercise, we had maintenance facilities and our system could transfer not only equipment but knowledge and experience from one generation to another. We had what we believed in. We were visionary and creative. Can we say that about us today?
Believe me, what fast jet we get today or tomorrow is not the most pressing issue, its this lay back attitude and mediocrity that is my issue. It not only stupid but dangerous. I think we’ve gone callous because of this false sense of security. Even when we have an issue at hand, we make no little effort to make up for our short comings. Ethiopia and Eritrea had a brief spart over some barren land and the next day the introduce cold war era air superiority air craft to the continent. We have an insurgency and we still move most of our men in pick up trucks and have made no effort to pick up attack and assault copter, unarguably then most important duo in a COIN situation even when its available at little cost. We have our golden eggs stolen in quantum, yet we are OK to pick a few soft boats and have the face to beg others for their discards! I thought we planned to us the Aradu for 25yrs, so why didn’t we think of the replacement? Same goes for the migs and alphas etc! Its this slow or no thinking that leaves me baffled.
Finally, I’m not advocating the nammer but was just like I said wondering, If the plane had progress beyond prototype, how would it have compared with the J series
Efiok, you nailed it. That old adage about ‘Neccesity being the mother of invention’ does not always apply to us. Remember the South Africans had an embargo for years, when they colluded with Israel among others in developing the Kfir (uprated Mirage 5). SA looked at their venerable DC3s from the 1940’s and reengined it with modern PT6 engines. Us? We completely relied on the Americans to refurbish some of our C130s after three decades of operations. We ran F27s in Nigeria since 1959, yet the maritime versions were allowed to rot in Benin by the early 90’s.
Ethiopia, in spite of its constant crisis, has cutting edge aviation maintenance. We think maintenance is always about money but capital is also in people and attitudes. . I read about a NAF AVM stating that the overhaul of the Alpha’s locally saved millions of forex. If true, why not extend that capability into other aircraft types. I tire.
Wondering about how we ended up with the J7. Was it because of it use in Pakistan et al? We forget that the Paks got theirs in the 80s and heavily modified them with western avionics and weapons. The question is, weren’t there alternatives in the 21st century? We had a concluded deal to upgrade our migs which would have served as a stop gap till we get new one what ever it would have been, one Obasanjo beside that we didn’t need something more exotic and could always get more when we’ve lost them all. Romania is still using her Mig upgrade today and upgrade, its better than any J7 variant. If we had gon that way, we would have save close to $100m and more importantly tech/knowledge transfer and we would well be en route to being a mig upgrade centre just like Israeli aid help Romania
Ifiok, check this out for excepts on the J7:
well ur position best explains the Nigerian factor but I am forced to acknowledge the steady progress made so far. The element of R and D is gradually creeping into out system and the results are not too far to see. Maintenance which we all cry about may not be the problem sometimes but attitude to government properties like u rightly pointed out. R and D in the NA, NN and the NAF have produced great results. AMEBO UAV, IGIRIGI APC, mobile kitchen, Andoni, rocket pods, bomb diffusing robot, ballistics vests e t c…….. Additionally, proforce defence company and innoson motors are leading the market on Nigeria security vehicle requirements with orders running high. Also,Our space program is a success story. Its no small feet to have our engineers build a satellite.
U know, we have really lacked behind over the years but the last 3 years n counting have seen unprecedented changes in the military. Most of the NA IFVs, APCs; NAF Airframes, naval vessels are now being fixed locally tells of a strong attitude. Although, we still need to improve. Despite our fear of taking ambitious military project, the Nigerian government could undertake the following:
1 Commencement of Phase 2 of the TRACON project.
2 Purchase of Air Defence Systems ( 2 battalions of Russian S300v ADS could do for now).
3 Purchase of 15 Sukhoi 30 jets with maintenance contract for 10 years in NAF facilities.
4. Sponsor a local OPV project in partnership with a non-western company like PIPAVAV.
5 Purchase of 100 T90 battle tanks.
6 Establishment of a cyber army. ( Also to include sponsoring non combatants for training.
7 Consolidate efforts on military research works through a 100bn access funds.
8 Establish a space command which I presume is on the cards.
9 Upgrade Nigerian military training doctrine inherited from the British.
10 Procuremilitary field communication relay system for the NA.
G8T bro, I don’t dispute the above, I actually laud it. However, the point I’m trying to make is that we lack vision period. Its not what we induct per se but why, I don’t knw if I’m understood. U see, racist SA gave us some strategic opponent and we could hide under fighting racism until they let Mandela go. Then what? It like the US have loafed around at the end of the cold war, 2day she is a broke super power that can’t stomach a fight and has been reduce to promote gay right while refraining from calling a coup a coup.
Nigeria is worse, we can’t police our coastal water and even when we have multi year procurement plan like the navy’s, we throw it in the trash after a few months and beg others to give us their discards while our 2 Guinea little brothers are thinking properly and forging ahead. I really wish we had crazies as neibours.
Confirmed, u re boldly right. I am only saying to get to your conclusion, there are steps to be taken and I guess our leaders have seen it although tip toeing through implementation process. There seems to be refocusing and re strategizing attempt going on. New commands, new division, in country repair works, hardware acquisitions, military assets re- deployments, Internet surveillance contract, drone acquisitions and local production, PICOMS -COMARAS, upgrade programs, TRACON completion, military innovations, Space program, rocketory defence program (200km achieved as we speak), Increased military training home and abroad. e.t.c. These are no small stories just in 3 years.
My brother, before it seems two men were facing different directions but now there seems to be alignment in a particular direction. I only hope only the momemtum is sustained and even improved upon. Painfully, I stand vexed by what I think we should be now and the reality on ground but some how I try to acknowledge that for us to achieve what we should be, comes with right steps and the signs are on the ground.
@G8T? i’m with you on this one. A lot has been achieved in the past few years. Most of us want faster results, but it’s better to make such steady steps. We are going the right way now. Please, shed more light on the rocketry defence program. Not a lot of information is coming out on that project.
oga G8T, thanks for the points u highlighted. some are immediate short term, some are medium term goals. and the good news is that they are all achievable. however, wrt .9, NA has been doing that for decades now. our training doctrine isn’t exactly british, neither is it american. we have been able to tailor a wide array of military doctrines and design them with our own local input to serve our local theartre.
as for point .2, i m highly skeptical that the military will get such a sophisticated system, nor will the govt even consider footing such bill, especially giving the fact that we do not have any rascal with a potent air force as neighbours. the closest are sudan and algeria, and we are not exactly pushing for conflicts with our north african friends.
note, this logic do not apply for air force and contemporary jets. we DO need these fighter jets for a whole lots of roles. so this isn’t a hiding corner for any ignorant pen pusher.
NAF needs to be funded appropriately. with good fiscal design, no one will break the bank procuring these multirole fighter jets.
G8T, like I said b4, I’m not picking at a particular gov for where we find our self 2day, certainly not our dear GEJ who’s record will be judged by posterity in the +ve as opposed to others.
However, my point is the culture and that we have seen some progress doesn’t mean that suddenly we are in the clear! That would be unfortunate. E.g. per the S300, WHY should we get it, WHY shouldn’t we? If we look at the scenario I painted earlier, then we would see the need! Do you guy see my point. I look at Pakistan and wonder why the west would bother to. Sell to them ultra advanced system in spite of their relationship with terrorism? The answer is their strategic location and role in Afghanistan in particular and proximity to the Gulf. Same goes for Qatar. What makes the later special is it prime location and energy reserves. They have catapulted themselves into the 1st word in gas to liquid manufacturing. In other words, no one can afford to ignore them no matter their politics. These guys don’t have significantly (if they even have more) more gas than us. What can the west or the world absolutely depend on us for? In spite of the US/Venezuelan spat, it doesn’t affect the oil flow, US owes China trillions so the Americans will always factor that into any response. However, they have slashed their buys from us by 30%! While I understand fracking and shellgas, I would like to see the corresponding figure from the Gulf. This goes to buttress the point I’ve been saying earlier, we need a vision badly and the strategy to achieve it. As a military is a microcosm of the society it protects, it will always reflect it in some way.
I remember reading somewhere about a declassified American plan to capture Nigerian oil fields that existed as resent as 1970s. What is to say that they don’t have such contingencies? However, I don’t fear the US as I do France! Who says that the French don’t have some contingency in place. Have u seen their amphibious capability lately? Why do the have such defense budgets yearly when the don’t alway procure? TRAINING and EXERCISE! So why don’t we have some shore to sea anti ship missiles and upgrade our coastal recon (increase and upgrade the coastal radars, AEW/C and UAVs) system if we can’t get escorts and subs yet? Does anyone remember the 90s era ‘fire and glory'(air force) and ‘eagle ring'(army) exercise?
I knw someone will say that I’m fear mongering. Far from it. If it is plausible then prepare for it. Someone (can’t remember who) said, if u want to prevent war, prepare for it! Nato or Warsaw pact never tango in a hot war but the prepared all the same. However, we can all remember what Nato did in the Gulf in 1991! That was years of Nato exercises including the biannual operation Bright Star paying off!
Fellow cyber generals,I saw a post about the Sudanese air force purchased of ex-Belarusian air force Su-24M Fencer strike jets and they were supplied early this year.From advanced MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters,Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack fighters and now the Su-24M Fencer medium bombers!
The FG seems not to be concern about the Sudanese government military build-up untill one day in the very near future,the sudanese government would unleash her airpower on the North- Eastern part of Nigeria,on that day maybe the NAF would scramble our number 1 fighter jet,the Alpha jet to intercept the invading fighters that our pilot may not even get a glimpse of before they would be smoked out of the sky.
We are seriously having a huge air defence gap in terms of airsuperiority fighters and an advanced Integrated Air Defence System(IADS)-Composing high-performance SAMs and AA Artillery batteries schattered all over the country and on naval war ships.
We need an air defence that would be very dense and lethal to attacking aircrafts and cruise missiles.This systems should cover the 3 air defence domains which are: Low level/Point Defence,0-15000ft,Medium Altitude,5000-30000ft and High Altitude,20000-50000ft. The SAMs and AAAs ranges should over-lap so that no envelop would be safe for attacking fighters and cruise missile.
For now,our Roland SAM systems and Shilka ZDSU-23-4 AAA guns and even the obsolate British Blowpipe MANPADs can only serve as point defence weapons,and may not be effective against modern high-performance fighters and cruise missiles.
Hence,the FG should negotiate with the Russians to acquire the Su-30/35 fighters,S-300MPU-2 Favorit/SA-20B Gargyle or S-400 Triumf/SA-21 Growler and the Pantsir 1s SPAAGM,and from China,the FD-2000/HQ-9 and the HQ-12 advanced SAMs.
If the FG can spend over $15 billion US dollars on the power sector,then why should it not put just $13 billion for the modernisation of the Defence and security sector?
The money is there but the political and military will to spend it wisely is not there.Our National Defence and Security is not being taken seriously compared to the time of President Shehu Shagari’s regime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EV11ojqCeg a video about the space programme
http://www.lmlcsteam.com/360/flash/Run-_LCSTour-4.html?utm_source=Janes&utm_medium=Banner&utm_term=Other&utm_campaign=MST-LCS-2013
virtual tour of a littoral ship
Greetings bros, @10, I think the Sudanese are more concern about the rebels, the South and other regional players. It’ll take a while for that to happen. They lack the tanker (that distance far’o), training and purpose for that. However, the scenario I painted can happen tomorrow!
That said, we should start thinking pro actively not re actively. We don’t need integrated air defense system because of Sudan, we need it because the rolands, blowpipes and 23-4s are ancient and needs to be replace with what can handle modern warfare. To prevent war u prepare for it!
@Ifiok,the mention of the Sudan is to give a clear example of what is happening where we soldiers on ground in Darfu.The Sudanese government is not comfortable with our role there.
I am aware that some of our National Assembly members do visit this blog from time to time,they should pay familiarisation visit to the Indian Parliment,and enquire how their committee on Defence and Security perform their over-sight functions.
The Defence HQs should coordinate the planning for the modernisation of the 3 armed services in conjuction with the MoD,Abuja,we are close to 2015-2020 time frame and nothing to show in terms of a comprehensive defence procurement plans.
What are we waiting for?
I believe someone had asked a question about this though it is still classified it means they are now I believe experimenting with heavier payloads and they are traveling longer distances from EPE. reading between the lines logic could dictate that the missile testing if they continue to be diligent and not allow politics to get in the way would move either to an uninhabited island as the story is suggesting or collaborate with another friendly country.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/national-news/132850-nigeria-resumes-rocket-testing-
This is an unrelated thread because it relates to the army but i will post it here and in the thread which is more appropriate called Operation BOYONA NEW 7TH DIVISION
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/national-news/132937-18-soldiers-get-death-jail-terms-over-boko-haram-
Wow Death Penalty. Well I suppose it is appropriate. Treason, waging war against the state, giving succour to the enemy, cowardice……….. the list is endless. I am glad that the military is prosecuting this crimes without the drama that usually accompanies what we do as a nation. .
I really hope because the court martial itself sends a powerful message
I hope it does.we have enough challenges at this point in time.
Ps dude you on twitter?
Oga Ifiok nice and credible scenerios, you have conjured up.
I once stated the fact that NAF was falling out of the top ten in sub-Saharan “black” African Airforces. For which I nearly got murdered by some of our hyper nationalists on this blog.
Our CIC is a military novice with no imagination or ambition. So is the vast majority of our politicians.
Only senator Chris Anyanwu is on the record as displaying a good grasp of the concept of military acquisitions. She answered the fake mizers we have in the senate, who were bemoaning the high costs of naval capital ship acquisitions, by pointing out that it was a necessary national investment that was very affordable, if our politicians quit being corrupt.
This is why I have opined a lot less on this blog in recent times. I began to doubt the efficacy of our advocacy on this blog.
I believe the blog is doing wonders in terms of educating Nigerians on military matters, but as for the military and our civilian leadership, it’s like we are talking to ourselves.
Why cant our military run their own website/blog/forum ? where all relevant issues can be debated.
Just empower a few young officers, and then get out of their way.
I often argued with gen Beeg in front and behind the scene of my harsh criticism of our armed forces and our politicians, But as God is my witness, I have watched beeg and all those who I disagreed with, come to the same conclusions at later dates.
This is because my comments and my frustrations come from truth of the matter. THE WOEFUL NONCHALANCE OF OUR MILITARY AND CIVILIAN LEADERSHIP.
So until we can find a way to get their attention, or elect real Nigerian patriots into power, OUR MILITARY DECLINE WOULD CONTINUE.
The archives of this blog is replete with beegeagle suggesting all manner of acquisitions to include new or used plat forms, price ranges and payment schedules.
Why they are affordable. The opportunity cost of not acquiring them. What countries of comparable incomes are doing. what countries of lesser incomes are doing etc. etc.
For a year this blog lobbied NAF and president GEJ and our political leaders to acquire the ex IAF SU-30K from Russian. And they paid us no mind. The Ethiopian and the Sudanese brass however have been paying keen attention. And are now in the running to acquire these affordable and powerful jets.
So, there you have it.
lol…..Someone sounds pissed. In my opinion that true patriots should ALWAYS question what their governments are up to. This is especially rue in the case of Nigeria, in view of our resent history, and current situation
OGA DOZIEX
I am going to have this conversation with you just this once and may be later we can take it of line
We have a lot in common
1) We both love Nigeria unconditionally
2) We both had/ have realtives/ friends who live through the nightmare of sl/ liberia
3) We both are equally frustrated and very happy by the apathetic situation towards procurement of the military
However let me say this about you . i have a great deal of respect for you, You cannot allow what the current f.g . is doing to silence your views that means they have won. i had in laws in the armed forces some retired some still serving that suffered professionally because of their love for Nigeria, One was almost executed sorry two these are true stories . The evil of corruption is watered and nourished and allowed to mushroom when good men like yourself and myself others like oga xnur, tim, eyimola keep quiet. Please i am personally begging you not to go silent. I would be personally be very grateful if you continue .
thank you
YOURS SINCERELY
JIMMY
p.s is their way we can communicate off line.
ditto OGA EYIMOLA.
Chief, thanks for the encouraging words, I read you loud and clear.
Oga Doziex, for the love of our country, we can’t afford to go cold for 2 long. When we finally get the light, u want to be @ the right place don’t you!
The Philippines was like that until China sent their coast guard to grab some of their territory! The problem is that ours is worse as no one around can bring themselves to think of it. Problems is when someone finally comes around, we’ll be in a really bad spot!
On the court marshal issue, if true then they desire their lot. However, I hope they expand the list to include their sponsors in and out of gov.
Roger that sir !
Sorry, meant to say deserve their lot
Yeah no sympathies for treacherous rats who put their comrades lives in danger.
Good morning guys, pls has any1 made contact with our leader General beegs? Am becoming very uncomfortable
So am I. He is probably unwell, or out of the country. We just have to stick with the blog and hope for good news
I believe Beag is well. let’s set our minds that way. Like oga Eyimola said, we have to stick with the blog and wait for good news.
OGA EYIMOLA
Much respect for your comments but unfortunately I am not on twitter however I would like to contact off line. how can we do that.
Amnesty International is quoting from this blog to justify their position regarding the current security situation in Nigeria.
Click to access report_cycle_violence_nigeria.pdf
Please let us leave these guys alone.
Fellow compatriots, it seems the NAF’s Chief would visit TAC,Makurdi tomorrow.I wonder what he would come and do,any info would be nice.
Pls any news on the H15s?
you mean the L-15
Don’t mind me, yes. The H stands 4 hongdu, my bad
http://www.punchng.com/news/40-soldiers-feared-killed-in-bharam-ambush/ Cyber general have u seen this.
This is not operational error or planning error, the planners are well aware of the dangers and decided it was expedient and proper (based on the available resources) to make the sacrifice. There must also have been a very urgent need to decimate the camp and desire to contain all elements within the camp
The forest is densely covered, the guys (boko haram) have lots of truck mounted anti -aircraft weapons that have sometimes been used even in flat trajectory, the also possess a few very old shoulder fired AAM. Under these conditions a helicopter gunship will have to go low and slow to effectively subdue several targets with rocket fire, machine guns and a few missiles. (This is probably why they choose this location in the first place) and would be very vulnerable to ground fire. Other options (artillery) might incur lots of collateral damage (remember there are always women and children in the camps). Losing an aircraft (any) to Boko haram will be a PR disaster and give weary fighters a life line of courage. People will lose their job if that ever happens!
The tragedy of this is that simple cheap modern battlefield technology would have reduced losses; cheap drones with IRCCD cameras could have been used for real time recon, precise long range artillery would also have helped, and high altitude aircraft with very precise bomb delivery platform 9in conjunction with ground/drone based spotters) will also have helped. You would have just surrounded the camp and decimate every single Anti-Aircraft /SMG station from a distance then send in troops to finish off.
Nonetheless, we should be grateful the losses are not too much.
@Oga Solarex, i totally agree with your assumptions. But first,it would be wise for the MOD to give details of this event if it ever happened.
The number of Killed or MIA is in dispute. This operation in a forest should have had a minimal input of human assets. You have correctly pointed out that long range artillery and precision bombing would have created a more ‘compliant area of operation’ for the ground forces to operate.
Oga Solarex, it’s like they heard my comments. The MOD has cleared the issue….http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/army-over-150-boko-haram-insurgents-15-soldiers-killed-in-borno/159309/
The Army yesterday confirmed that it had killed a top Boko Haram commander, Abba Boroma, on whose head it had earlier placed a bounty of N10m. http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/army-in-major-offensive-kills-149-boko-haram-members/
In any ops, casualty rate is always factored in.
The intrigue still remains; WHY WAS THERE NO AIR SUPPORT.
these claims are counter claims make the army look limp. no professional army could have had these sorts of PR disaster. how can the army and the media be disputing claim, so much for a supposed ,media savvy army. this is shameful.
the media said it was 134 battalion that suffered these losses why carrying out reconnaissance. why they would need a company size for for recce beats me. on the army part, they said they only suffered casualties why attacking the kafiya forest, boko haram camp. and they mentioned the 81 battalion and not the 134 battalion. so definitely, this should look like two different ops.
baseline, this is totally scandalous. its their amateurish way of handling media that brings about these morale shattering stories.
@solorex, you made good points. but i don’t see any reason why they cant use UAVs for recce, and MI-24 to pound these bast**ds. if you are concerned about the collateral damage from artillery, then i suggest they use mortal shells. dropping a 60mm shell on a drum 500m away is SOP.
so there should be no reason why they cant use medium and heavy mortars. get GPS coordinates of the camp, and the bombardment can be as accurate as possible. there is nothing nouveau in this idea. i aint napoleon and nothing i m advising is new here. mobile assault, and air assault troops have been doing this as far back as the mid 90s, this i know personally.
Oga Freegulf your comments are spot on.
@freegulf, this is exactly what the EO did against the RUF in sierra leone.
These tactics were detailed in the SOF magazine.
Intelligence/ aerial recon first spotted the rebel camps in the jungle, mi-17s then lifted 80mm and 120 mm mortar crews into position.
Ambush parties were also lifted to block likely escape routes, then the mortars were accurately dropped on the small rebel camp, and as they escaped, they fell into preset ambushes.
As I said many a time, this is a crucial capability that is missing from the NA.
We urgently need helicopters and mentors/advisors in this type of warfare.
In an war zone where you have anti air weapons on ground, helos are to keep clear less we hear the worse. I believe strongly on the capability of the Nigerian Forces anytime anyday but we commit men for operations that a simple UAV, or shells could do better. The Russians made it clear during WW2. “DONT SEND A MAN TO A PLACE BULLET OR SHELLS CAN REACH” we commit men to an unknown area believing in strength not in materiel, intelligence or aerial support. The president call for emergency rule made it clear. stay clear of BH camps or areas. BOMB THE HELL OUT OF THOSE AREAS.
oga G8T, the MI-24 is not going in without adequate intel and pin point location of triple A (AAA)s. these birds are needed for armed recce. the UAVs are steady surveillance assets for coordinating operations and preparing plans. and the fast movers however, though important are not your best bet in COIN. they are just part of the strike package. but the MI-24s are very sharp tip of this lethal spear
There is no pr mistake on d part of d army pls.The army said one thing and den d weak corrupt media said anoda.Whom will u trust.And 4 d issue of military acquisition,we might hav a long way to go but we are nt doin badly.In as much as d military is very important and deserves funding,dere are other competing interests in d country and no sector gets all it wants.
Did I not say a few weeks/ months ago, that it was going to come to this ?
I used the hip hop slang “Clap back” so folks would remember.
There is a strategy for neutralizing a massed opponent, Air strikes, shelling, armored envelopment etc.
There are also strategies for neutralizing a dispersed opponent.
1st of all, their dispersal makes the previous strategy not effective. The TRACKING, HUNTING, TRAPPING AND NEUTRALIZING OF DISPERSED INSURGENTS HAS UNFORTUNATELY REMAINED THE ACHILLES HEEL OF THE NIGERIAN ARMED FORCES.
This same dynamic as played out in NA wars in Liberia, sierra leone, the niger Delta and now against boko haram in the north east.
General Ihejirika has made great strides in providing COIN training in the army at large but that is not enough.
Counter Insurgency should be inducted in a more dedicated way, to make NA good at it.
Again, I would suggest the following steps.
(1) Military expert advisers: Our commandoes and soldiers already know how to shoot and fight, it is in the overall strategy, that we need help.
How to effectively marry the right equipment, the right training, accurate intelligence into executing this war.
Trained armies, have always required advisers to get better. But as COL. Eeben warned us, beware of the advisers. (Hire the proven best, and keep ’em on a short leash).
In the philipines, against their insurgents, US marines, special forces and even some contrators have provided advice and mentorship.
In Columbia, the combination of US donated black hawks and Huey helicopters, military advisors, PMCs and a motivated well trained and equipped Columbian army has finally brought the FARC to it’s knees, and to the negotiating table.
Here in Africa, Mercenaries and advisors were behind the eventual success of Operation sunset that finally saw Ethiopia evict Eritrea from disputed territories. The great Ethiopian army, has never shyied away from the employment of military advisors. The Cubans were the favorites of the derg.
Furthermore in Africa, we have the exploits of the EO in sierra leone and Angola. Some bloggers have said that the Nigerian army can’t be compared to these countries. Well maybe not sierra leone, But the Angolans have a better air force, armored and artillery units than the NA. And so do the Ethiopians.
So if they can employ mentors/advisors to get better, then so can Nigeria.
(2) Attack helicopters, transport helicopters and other arms acquisitions.
embedded in the successful coin formula, is the right equipment. To make it simple
NA Troops(well trained) + military advisors + the right equipment/logistics = the complete neutralization of BH and other future insurgents.
Why are you so keen on “military advisors”?
That is like saying that the Super Eagles should go get a “foreign coach.”
You should speak of:
Leadership
Strategy
Tactics
Morale
Training
Equipment
Dedication
In a long campaign, these are what it takes to win.
Every war will have a setback, that’s no reason to go get “advisors”.
The “advisors” you speak of have had lot’s of setbacks, yet they continue to be views as “experts”.
By the way, the fighting in the Philippines and Columbia has been going on for decades.
Oga asorock, it’s their wealth of experience, that we want to tap from. They know what works and what doesn’t in the real world.
This type of mentorship shortens the learning curve. And even if it’s true that ex US and ex SADF have made mistakes before, don’t you want NA special forces to be in a position to learn from those mistakes, rather than repeating them ?
The US navy seals receive some of the hardest screenings, and training there is. Yet they are not considered ready until they are assigned to their units and are mentored by experienced seal team members.
seconded freegulf. my pain lies only on two principles of military operation namely:
1 Selection and maintenance of aim.
2 maintenance of momentum.
while the first remains evident from the crackdown so far, the second seems to have lost it steam, the first week of the emergency rule saw those bast****ds dashing at 100km per minutes into neighbouring countries. The military fire power was no doubt a success. Painfully, this incident happened not in built up area but a well defined terrorist camp so what happened. I know our boys are doing great but my brother 19 soldiers with some missing amount to a lost platoon and that is no joke. It was hell in Zaki Biam when such event occurred and we all know what followed. If by now that forest or adjoining forests bear signs of BH activities then nothing short of continued bombardment is welcomed.
Secondly my friends, I also think press freedom should be defined clearly in this operation? I feel the Nigerian press created more panic when they say “50 soldiers killed,” the likely investors such wrong information could chase away cannot be foretold. I checked through the papers today and I did a small assessment where my conclusions only consolidate my position on censored press. about 90 percent had negative news about the country. The media is needed in this war and the concerned agencies should be aware of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSxjFTzkBC4 video on the massacre
Which massacre?
The content in the video is a few months old now.
This video was from the first ops of the State of Emergency a few months back.
well said oga G8T. excellent piece. its always the flaw in counter guerrilla warfare, the momentum easily seeps away. that is the importance of air platforms and small unit recce missions (backed with rapid reaction mobile teams and air assets should the need arise for hot extraction of the recce guys) to keep the insurgents on a back foot. do not give them time to rest or regroup, keep hitting and be relentless in attack and aggressive patrols.
concerning the press factor, i say it is entirely the fault of the army. there is a clear lack of clarity pertaining ongoing ops. what happened to embedded crew and army correspondents? these crew can be attached to particular units for brief periods. yes, armies worldwide see the press as irritating sometimes, and there’s always distrust between the army and the press. however, this is nothing new. and with a military savvy correspondent their stories can still come out the way they want it told and with all less friction.
NA on the other hand will get ‘bashed’ by these ignorant journos, and still invite the same clueless journos to unconvincing tours. in this day and age, they can certainly do better. there are lots of forward thinking officers, but the traditional system seems to hold sway and ignore good changes.
@drhobert, there are competing demands everywhere. even the most powerful nation on earth has competing demands. but we shouldn’t let these stagnant attitude of the officials at defence ministry keep the military from moving in the right pace. if we keep preaching competing demand, then it gets to a stage when these enemies would hold us by the throat and there wouldn’t be any money to even spend on other basic things. i guess by then we would be employing mercs and paying thousands of dollars daily in order to kiss their a****
when chad became serious on the battlefield, even world bank loans were used in procuring military hardware. tell them about competing demands .
after mobutu’s incompetent officials and generals where done with their small mindedness, what happened to his 32 year rule? these officers where stealing petrol meant for army use and selling them, they where selling intel to other countries, they where withholding pay. in the end what happened to this propped up army? other than running to SA and europe. so much for an army. mind you, the present army is no better than mobutu era force; just as useless.
these armament materiel are not as expensive as our clueless politicians try to make it sound. gen beeg, on numerous occasions showcased various scenarios for payments over medium term. even if it means oil for arms (nigeria had something similar in the 80s with brazil before it was botched by ‘competing demands’) to bring the military into a contemporary era. no need starting off on our top brass. they re not as aggressive or selfless (acquisition wise) as some people hope and wish.
gen doziex, we will always be on opposing sides regarding employment of mercs. we do not need these guys to hold our hands!! we already have isreali trainers, pakistani trainers, brits, americans, what else do we need? for them to become combat advisers? NO, we don’t need them for that sort of role.
the officers and men are adequately trained for COIN warfare. the problem is employment of doctrinal lessons and knowledge wrt acquisition of hardware. these guys know a lot about modern LICs. they know about Force Utility. the funds are not just there!!! that is the problem. its about armament and utilization, which is not happening, not some mercs or advisers or commandos.
we are no client state like columbia. neither re we like angola that had to put up with the soviets and cubans. we are far more matured than these examples. the two large armies of the subcontinent; the indian army and the pakistani army, they still suffer chronic problems, not because they do not have fine officers and brilliant doctrines, and you do not see them running to bring in mercs to hold their hands like toddlers.
i dont want to delve into the politics of mercs and client state relationship between countries like columbia and the usa, that is for another day. but know this, a lot of these armies are either still immature, or have decapitated the thinking branch of their armed forces.
as for your claim about ethiopia and angola matching us. yes, they are better equipped than the nigerian army, but they are still well far back in general order and organisation as armies compared with the nigerian army. our shortfall in armament are more than compensated for in training, doctrine, attitude, complex and endless listings
.
do you think the nigerian army will honestly fight a 30 year war? do you think the nigerian army will honestly put up with the likes of madman mengistu for over a decade? or have one just presidents since independence? do you think a nigerian version of UNITA will control 90% of this country? do you think we will bring in mercs (which turned out good for the angolans, due to the shabby state of FAA) to save us from a nigerian savimbi.
did we ever have a reason to invite USSR and Cuba to hold our national borders intact?
my good friend, you need to understand traditions of armies before judging/ranking them, irrespective of weapons or manpower. we could have easily sold out to britain and russia during the civil war. we could have packed our bags and dash our eastern seaboard to gaullist france. the fact that we do not have aggressive expansionist ambition does not in any way makes us weaker than ethiopia or angola.
i do criticize the military (MOD critically included) of counter productive attitude emanating from the top brass. but believe me, when it comes to warfare, some countries, irrespective of their hardware, would stay behind us. ask ghadiffi’s libya, what happened to all those weapons during their war with chad in the 80s. you need to understand the nuances and intricate structure of every army and what makes them tick.
coherency in an army is far more useful than manpower and materiel. this does not take away the fact that our boyz need more hardware. it has always been a stinging problem of the NA.
Well said my brother preach the good word.AMEN!!
Brilliant Sir.
Oga freegulf, before you over reach in your praise for NA’s military institutional pedigree, let me remind you that Ethiopian had a fully fledge airforce before Nigeria came into existence.
Infact the Ethiopians trained some of NAFs early personel.
This army has officers trained in the western military doctrine, and more recently trained in the soviet/Cuban military doctrine.
While several revolutions have up ended things in the military, the late Meles Zenawi rehired many of the derg era military officers. The war with his erstwhile ally Eritrea more than sped up the process of assimilating the derg era pilots and officers.
My point is that the Ethiopian armed forces has a depth in the quality of it’s officer corp that is easily overlooked.
Furthermore, they posses the firepower to match their doctrine.
I will agree with you that Nigeria has the most educated officer corps on the continent.
But don’t forget that for a decade or two, they where mired in the trappings of being military governors and ministers and NOT focused on the defence of Nigeria.
BKH is taking human hostages according to todays papers most likely to be used as human sheilds….and the audacity with which they carry these attacks, i am suspecting they are bracing up for a major showdown with the military!
I agree with freegulf to the extent that we don’t need a coy for recon missions. That’s drone and SF turf. You see, this will continue to happen until we put our house in order. Solorex, I agree that with ur point on sacrifice but u don’t throwaway the lives of ur soldiers for no reason! The Israeli will rather that a$5m merkava tank go than 1 soldier. No matter the propaganda effect, 1 hind going down is better than a coy or even platoon of soldier dead. Its just that we are still stuck in the 90s (or worse 4got the lessons of the 90s).
BH is upgrading but we still think that its a police action. With proper intel and 2 alphas, we would be talking about BH suya.
However my bro Freegulf, if we don’t get our act right, we may end up with 30 yrs too. Back when the emergency rule was employed, we all said that we were ill equipped for the operation. I knew we had a long way to go. We lost valuable opportunity to significantly reduce them for lack of intel, attack and assault assets. The problem is that months later, not only don’t we have righted these flaws, we are worse of! If the big powers could spend 10yrs in Vietnam and Afganistan etc, what makes us think that we will vanquish BH 2moro? If continue like this, we will win but it’ll take a long time
Gentlemen, no vest but once again this thread is fast becoming streched and unweildly. To avoid this problem pending the retun of Oga Beegz, I had earlier suggested that we deal with army related issues on an army thread, naval related issues on a naval thread and airfoce related issues on an airfoce thread. There was no response.
I will respectuflly repeat this suggestion. Could we agree to deal with army matters on the thread entitled OPERATION BOYONA NEW 7 INFANTARY DIV ORDERED TO GET EVIDENCE OF SHEKAU’S KILLING.
For naval matters, could we agree to deal with same on the thread entitled NIGERIAN NAVY KILLS 6 SEA PIRATES/…..JOINT OFFENSIVE MOUNTED FROM NAVAL BASES AT CALABAR AND IKOT ABASI.
For airfoce matters, could we agree to deal with same on the thread entilteld NIGERIAN AIRFORCE TRAINS 47 OFFICERSS AND MEN TO BOOST COIN OPERATIONS. Are we agreed?
Fully Agree.
Agreed!
Good mornin Everyone,
Just Watched an AIT News Highlight this mornin, which talks of The Visit of the Chinese Parliament President to the Senate President and the president, what caught my attention was the Bilateral Signing of Military Co-Operation between the two countries, here David Mark specifically said Support in Developing Military Hardware.
So here are my thoughts:
1. This is a Continued Agreement based on the Visit of the President of Nigeria to China, the Parliament has now returned the Favour making the Deal dat must have been struck especially on Defence Final and Binding.
2. What Hardware are we gettin apart from the Hongdu L-15s and OPVs we are expecting, can we expect to see Technological Transfer, Reverse Engineering programmes soon?
3. What Possible Hardwares can China Give to us from their mighty arsenal?
This is one of the most delightful news, we need APCs, Mordern Air Defence Systems, Superiority Fighters, Tanks, OPVs and Carriers and Even Submarines lets wish this Partnership a Fruitful and Speedy one.
Amen, especially, Aircraft’s, SAM’s, Subs and Freights
http://www.punchng.com/news/terrorism-china-pledges-military-support-for-nigeria/
From reports, David Mark wants the Chinese to establish an Aircraft spare parts production center established in Nigeria. Is this a sign of what to expect???
Mighty yagz, roger that
agreed
Agreed
so say we all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MJb0vIPcws a video about the confirmation of a helicopter training school in abk
Thank you for sharing this with all our cyber generals .for those who worry about gen beegs I just have this premonition that he is okay.let us continue to maintain the gold standard till he returns T-Mobile. America’s First Nationwide 4G Network
General jimmy,i hope your premonition turns out
true
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24171559 1 billion pounds for 1 sub na wa
Astute Class subs can sail “forever” without re-fuelling, up to 38 torpedoes( can engage a whole fleet/Flotilla even in conventional war mode!),that can fire several other missiles ranging from LACM with 2000KM+ range to ABM ( extended range Tomahawks) and Nuclear tipped cruise missiles(rumored);can only fire Drones version of the tomahawk for reckon purposes. It blurred the line between Attack/Hunter/Killer submarine and ballistic submarine. It is fear, death and prowess offered and expressed in the most beautiful way.
FG and state government as agreed to spend another $100m annually ( outside regular defense budget provisions) to procure equipment to fight oil theft. -This is a great news, but not good enough! $300m would have been more like it. I do sincerely hope that this fund will not go to Ex militant pipe line securing contracts or procurement of lame patrol aircraft and useless range small crafts! Sincerely, this is a great opportunity to procure one OPV(60-70m,1000tn) and 2 long Range Maritime patrol aircraft and half a dozen helix every 2 years, outside regular naval budget!
a documentary on the ak 47 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPF5IyN3BJs
Hi guys, I stumbled on this report, should we assume NAF has acquired new assets?
where is the report oga chucks?
CHIEF of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Bardeh has stated that the force is hundred percent prepared to actulaise its vision of tackling the security challenges confronting the country.
Air Marshal Bardeh made this statement Friday while on an inspection visit of equipment at the Tactical Air Command Headquarters, Makurdi.
He said the war rooms are ready and the aircraft have started plying.
The Chief of Air Staff further charged the men and women of the force to maintain the tempo of collectively actualizing the force’s vision hundred percent.
He inspected fighter jets, war room, and inaugurated the new gate to the Tactical Air Command
Which “fighter jets” exactly? Alpha jets? likely the reactivated jets. Hope I’m wrong though.
Not trying to derail us from the topic….
But does anyone know a senior person we can contact at Proforce? We know Beeg visited their facility recently and posted pictures of their APC models. This could be a good start to tracking him down. We can all hope he is fine but we also need to take some practical steps to confirming our hopes….please post any information. Thanks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhlvIBYl190 cyber generals a video on the recent boko haram attack. people said the army fled
This is not goodnews the way the news is coming out now it isshowing that the newly formed 7th division is notup to the tasks it also. Agulf between the Naf and the. Na these are the first reports of soldiers fleeing due to heavy whether this is true or false the enemy is realising the impact of anti aircraft weapons are govt being stingy with funds for the naf isreaping the rewards god help us all. T-Mobile. America’s First Nationwide 4G Network
My brother if those soldiers were in MRAPs they would have dealt with the terrorists. No one wants to die except the terrorists themsleves and honestly I dont blame the soldiers. We cant be fighting insurgency like we are still in 1960s. However, the report also points to the fact that the soldiers really do require more training in COIN operations and more fire power. Bare bone AK47 is not enough for the lone infantry man. WOrd is enoguh for the wise.
General Beegs where ever you are may you never walk alone. we pray you are ok.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/the-dogs-of-war-in-boko-haram-enclave/ an insight into the machinations of the army k9 corp
I want to thank Lord FEJ for bringing this article to attention and a great deal of gratitude to the Nigerian Army.The last two days have not been easy concerning the news .This is what we are talking about when we talk about army civil relationships. The. Nigerian army unwittingly by showing capt obinna has created a role model for other girls to follow in her footsteps.This is a by product of something unintended that can have good consequences for the armed forces at large. T-Mobile. America’s First Nationwide 4G Network
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/national-news/133603-anxiety-over-absence-of-defence-minister-
Here is an interesting article perhaps GEJ ala his overbearing predecessor OBJ now wants to keep the defence PORTFOLIO FOR HIMSELF. I really fro the love of God sometimes cannot honestly understand how our PRESIDENT can act in such a dysfunctional manner.
The defence portfolio IS RECOGNIZED the world over next to the finance portfolio is as the most sensitive job in the cabinet. ERELU OBADA all credit to her did a fantastic job with literally one hand and one leg tied behind her back. This woman tried hopefully this is not the last we have seen of her.
We leave GEJ as is his right to do whatsoever he pleases as all serve at the President’s pleasure however the successes and failures by him not appointing someone substantive will fall on him and just as Nigerians are judging obj harshly hopefully Nigerians will treat him better.
Well at least Obasanjo came from a military background, so he at least had a clue. What Jonathon is doing is extremely dangerous and short sighted.
Men, I’ll rather see IBB return with all his historical baggage, than have GEJ continue this his inept nonsensical rule for another 4 years.
1st he makes his wife a perm sec, now he wants to be defense minister ?
Sir please, for the love of God, we have several recently retired generals that have the pedigree for this job.
If you were a military visionary like Yoweri Museveni, your actions would have showed that by now.
Either, you get seasoned foreign and domestic advisers, and heed their advice, or just quietly choose not to run for the next election.
bros don’t worry pres jonathan wil suprise nigerian d minster of defence is d current COAS.les jst wait
Oh chief, that would be wonderful. And it would show that our CIC knows what he is doing.
please oh, where is beegs
I personally do not know where he is but I have this premonition that he is okay.You just have to trust me on this T-Mobile. America’s First Nationwide 4G Network
Oga Jimmy,
You may be right on your premonitions. A poster on cybereagles just reported that he recently spoke to oga Beeg and that he is doing fine.
pls benbella ar u positive about dat
My ogas, let’s not be in a hurry to read meanings to this situation. We can be rest assured that Mr president means well for the country considering the security challenges we are facing. If the post of defence stays under the office of the president, then let it be as long as it wipes out the bottleneck and senseless policies that causes delays in procurements or procurement of non-standard platforms for the armed forces. We have heard the CDS complain about that. Like i said at the beginning, let’s be patient. @my oga Doziex, i don’t see what IBB can offer us. He raped democracy, so he will never be elected democratically likewise Buhari. As a master coup plotter do you think he would give the armed forces the ability to be effective without being scared of a coup against him? GEJ is the most criticized president we’ve had because he gave the people the chance to criticize. OBJ never wasted time to arm-twist his critics. But in all, GEJ has done a lot for the armed forces more than the previous leaders (Shagari aside) had done put together. As per Oga Beags.
Oga Obix, you are quite right. I was just looking for new ways to express my frustration at the slow pace of re equipping our armed forces.
Asking for IBB to return, is akin to asking the devil to pastor a church, because one thinks the current pastor is that bad.
History has chosen President GEJ for a time like this. The execution of his polices, has to match or surpass the crises at hand.
And Nigeria is on the verge of catastrophy. He cannot afford to be a little better than the rest. He has to rise to the occasion and do the necessary to salvage Nigeria.
HE MUST SPEND WHAT NEEDS TO BE SPENT TO EQUIP OUR MILITARY WHICH IS OUR LAST HOPE AND OUR LAST LINE OF DEFENCE.
Oga Doziex, you are absolutely right. if taking over as defence minister (if at all that happens) amounts to swift executions of the procurement policies we advocate, then let him keep the post till he leaves office 🙂
Roger that sir, if its the IBB that faked a coup and crippled the airforce because of the plausibility of his cooked up coup (a rule book that Abacha followed with religious fever, may we never have an election again. Devil pastor a church, haba, rather its sending satan to come die for mankind. No sell
Hehehe ……ete mbok, your right men that’s the right scale, the right analogy, having satan die for mankind.
Hmmm, I shudder at the thought.
showdown between the army and BH. this should not come as a surprise to any keen observer of this ISO. the security forces re attacking BH neck of woods, they are going after, and smashing up holding and harbour camps. this is an existential threat to the terrorists and they will lash out with every means reachable. until they relocate major camps to more ‘safer’ territories in niger, tchad, and cameroun, these campaigns will continue to bleed both sides.
NA should do more to locate and destroy points of assemble of these terrs. another critical factor in this present ops, is armament. how many direct and indirect support weapons are provided to each platoon?
support weapons are extremely critical in order to match and defeat the heavy cannons of the terrs.
@oga doziex, you are right, ethiopian armed forces have a long proud history. their units fought with distinction in korea and they did well initially, against the ELF in the late 60s. and yes, the air force trained NAF. however, it still does not negate the strong absence of institutional coherence, other than dogma and ryming marxism/Leninism. that was the recent past. today, they re much better, but rate them with caution because some ‘revolutionary fervor’ still gets in the way of pragmatism.
this was the same military that ignored the rise of halle mengistu, a relatively junior officer. imagine al hamza mustafa locking all the generals in ’98 and wiping them out. do you think that his lethal strike would make him HOS, overnight?
the same military that needed men and materiel from other countries to help contain a crazy neighbour. this was the era when they where bragging about having the most powerful army in black africa. well, the existence of an indepent Eritrea tells a better story
Oga freeegulf, I guess it’s your opinion is that no army in black Africa can compare favorably with the pedigree and sophistication of the Nigerian army.
Their was a time, may be the 70s and the early 80s were that might have been the case.
But NAs decline in both fire power and institutional cohesion has been going on for a few decades now.
However, you just made my point by suggesting that NA should DO MORE to locate the assembly points of the insurgents.
This is the hammer and anvil tactics I talked about. The heliborne battalion sized search and destroy tactics the americans employed in Vietnam.
On a smaller scale, both the SADF and the Rhodesians perfected theses tactics in their destabilizing wars against their neighbours.
However, it was the veterans of these wars that made up the staff of the Executive Outcomes.
And with similar tactics, they were able to track and neutralize the unita, and ultimately retrained the MPLA commandos that killed Savimbi.
In sierra leone, on even a smaller scale, these tactics were employed, and a difficult to fix RUF was squeeling for peace in a few months.
Just as with all hunters and trackers, there is an art and a science to these tactics, it just cant be read off a text book.
Proper instruction, and endless rehersals are needed as the wrong approach can lead to choppers being shot down, or Landing zones being ambushed.
It is clear that NA needs this help, the question is, what is the least expensive and politically entangling way of getting this capability.
(1) Friendly nations ? the UK ?, the US, the Isrealis ?
(2) PMCs (my favorite) EO ? or COL. Eebens new incarnation of the out fit, Blackwater ? or is it XE they call it now. Dynacorp ?, Sandline and the list goes on.
Mind you, only the south Africans have a proven record in the capability we seek.
(3) We could motivate ourselves to go it alone, this seems to be the favorite of our bloggers here.
But you guys must take responsibility for what that entails. There would be a long learning curve.
Mistakes would be made, and these mistakes costs lives.
Even nations that are good at these tactics make deadly mistakes.
US seal team six, the unit that killed bin laden in Pakistan, had their chopper shot down by an RPG wielding Taliban at the insertion point. 22 seals perished.
Years back, two helicopters loaded with isreali commandos prepped for a mission in Lebanon crashed into each other on take off.
Even the EO lost a squad after insertion behind the enemy lines in angola. there is no telling what unita did to them.
Dox man, very well done. I think that a hybrid of 1 and 3 would do with 1 represented by Israel of course. A while ago, I ask of our 1980s and 90s era ops ‘sea dog’, ‘eagle ring’ and ‘fire and glory’. David Beckam we found out in ‘Bend it like Beckam’ practiced his free kick countless time resulting in his recognition as a free kick specialist. Like u said, rehearsals or better put, exercise… Lots of it, is what will be required. The question is would we commit funds for assets, training, creating doctrine and logistic chain? We have to wait and see I think.
doziex does have a point. however, his fond bias for PMCs would always be the splitting issue as far as training and doctrine goes.
while i agree that NA firepower is not up to match, the institutional cohesion is still very much there and growing strong. without this cohesion, NA would have collapsed in the 90s due to the strenuous strains of LBR and SRL campaigns that where rife with corruption, lack of adequate preparedness and funding. very few armies would have survived that era.
as for Ethiopia, well, lets just say that with the TO&E their army could prop up in the 80s, they could have easily overrun the entire east African region. yes, they had good officers (some of the air force officers were exceptionally brilliant) but ideology and dogma crippled their military effectiveness. party loyalty and soviet influence did not help. they would have been better off without the eastern bloc influence which eradicated the professionalism of the corp and turned veteran soldiers into party stalwarts.
without the upheaval that the Derg created in the late 70s, it would have been impossible for siad barre to act so brazen and invade Ethiopian territories. it was this same turmoil that brought the once professional Ethiopian army to its knees, resulting in great losses, in effect, bringing the soviet and cubans onto Ethiopia’s side.
overall, the Ethiopian army is far more powerful army in terms of firepower and manpower than the Nigerian army. but their high attrition rates and indiscriminate use of firepower (which is sometimes ineffective in their campaigns) will always be a flaw in the overall battlefield prowess. in all, we can say that they have more experience in fighting big battles than the NA. however, big battles alone does not tell the whole story. who would have thought that a spit and shine army with careerists like the KDF would be so impressive in OLN.
Could Nigeria be interested in the Kfir fighters now in storage? Wonder how politics will play if NAF attempts to buy Israeli equipment?
Nice one Femi….just googled the Kfir….not a bad jet. I am not an aircraft expert..wud leave it to others…But if we can start with this it wont be a bad idea..20mil dols per jet and a 40 year gurantee…wont be bad business. Oga’s what do u think…over to the Air warriors
well, the kfir is a terrific bird for the price. however, as i’ve said before, you don’t mess with physics. as i see it, the airframe is the Achilles of this bird. 2ndly, the engine is a 50s designed turbojet and it attendant efficiency issue. its not too maneuverable as it lacks FBW. however, it has great sensors and weapon system being a Israeli jet(their selling point) and they have mastered the j79 engine inside out. i don’t doubt their ability to support the aircraft for even100 years, the question is @ how much? will it be available when we need it or will it be in the hangar receiving it next fix. hence the question i posed earlier, how will it fare with a new engine and as a new build? point in case is the 90s namera prototype with say russian engines (saturn AL 31 and klimov RD 33 derivatives)?
Very deep and reasonable thinking oga Ifiok
Thanks. Also remember that the engine is American. They even stopped a sale with Argentina from going through (later, the Argentines went for ex spanish mirage F1s). The rest you can figure out.
I am kind of sick and tired of the talk of Gen Beegeagle been heart broken by not been given equal access with foreign journalist to information and been disrespected by the military; thus abandoning all his dedicated bloggers and his much beloved forum with impunity and utter disregard for camaraderie. While this may certainly be true( given the “bushmanic”Antecedent of Nigerian military), i think the someone is a bit uncomfortable with procurement and strategy been opened up for criticism to everybody online. I believe the the heart break story is a soft landing an easily believable tale with no depth;designed to bamboozle an undiscerning mind. I thinks its cheap! I think this forum is been technically shutdown to prevent military procurement ,response to crisis and strategy from been scrutinized!
I think Gen beegs should send us a little note on this.We should also take this out with the Local press while waiting for his note.