HTMS Naresuan, a Chinese-built Type 53H2 frigate of the Royal Thai Navy seen here in Hong Kong
THE SUN
25 May, 2014
The Chinese government has provided for Nigeria, a combat vessel that will assist the Nigerian Navy combat (acts of illegality) within her waterways.Although details of the vessel is yet to be made public, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command Rear Admiral Ilesanmi Alade said the vessel is yet to be handed over to the Nigerian Navy but added that the process toward the handover has been initiated.
He spoke while receiving the Chinese People Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Task Group which arrived Nigeria with three warships in a diplomatic visit that will involve power projection for the Chinese Navy.
Rear Admiral Ilesanmi Alade who received the Task Group in his office said Chinese military cooperation with Nigeria has increased within the last two years, especially with the building of a warship for Nigeria at the Chinese Shipbuilding Company.He said that the vessel which has been completed and launched by the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan is christened NNS Centenary and its expected in Nigeria in July while another vessel which will be built at the Nigerian Navy Shipyard in Port Harcourt by the Chinese Shipbuilding Company have been initiated.
Admiral Alade said that these vessels are aside from the one provide for Nigeria free of charge. He said that Nigeria and China military relations dates back many years with the training of Nigerian military officers in Chinese Staff College and Defence College, adding that in recent times the relationship has progressed with the acquisition of military hardware.
The China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Company had earlier in the year launched the Nigerian Navy’s first of two P-18N Offshore Patrol Vessels. The vessel was assigned the pennant number F91 (the pennant number F90 is assigned to the NNS Thunder, an ex- US Coast Guard cutter). The offshore patrol vessel’s
launch ceremony also marked the hull formation ceremony of the second vessel, F92.
Earlier, the leader of the Task Group and the Commanding Officer of the CNS Yan Cheng, a naval frigate Senior Captain Li Pengcheng said during the visit, the task group and the Nigerian Navy will jointly train on counterpiracy, to enable the two navies share knowledge on how to combat piracy. He said that visit of the task group will further strengthen cooperation between the two navies especially cooperation that will promote regional peace and stability.
Earlier at a briefing on board the vessel the Chief Staff Officer Western Naval Command Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ofik who received the ship’s crew on behalf of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin said that the relationship between the two navies dates back many years, “but in those years it had been training and training alone, but we are happy that it has gone further with the acquisition of military hardware.”
He said that the Nigerian Naval Chief had asked him through the Flag Officer commanding Western Naval Command to welcome the ship’s crew to Nigeria and make it known that the Nigerian Navy is ready to support them throughout their stay in Nigeria.
However, thousands of Chinese resident in Nigeria throng the Apapa Port to welcome the Task group with a mini-carnival initiated by the Chinese to welcome the vessels.
BACKGROUNDER
USED SHIP OPTIONS FOR THE FORCE MULTIPLIER EFFECT: STOP-GAP OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO THE NIGERIAN NAVY
Beegeagle's Blog 
I am willing to bet on it that we shall be getting a modernised TYPE 53H2 frigate. Remember that Israel wanted to transfer a large patrol craft the size of our 58 metre ships last year and the NN rejected the offer? So I think we have just landed something very important.The emphasis on combat vessel almost makes it clear that we shall be getting a fighting ship. A China looking to position itself in the hearts of people in this behemoth of a nation will offer nothing unedifying.
Let those who think that the Nigerian Navy are only good enough to serve as the coastguard of foreign navies watch this space. Looks like the days of foreign navies turning up in OPVs and other auxiliary vessels and then teaching firefighting and first aid…just to make sure that our offensive capabilities are curtailed, are now behind us.
Turkey similarly came around here in frigates only last month and are also thought to be on the cusp of transferring a frigate to the NN. Mek dem bring am…we neva belleful abeg. Alas, old things have passed away. We shall now explore our options to our heart’s content. This “West-or-I-die” business in our defence sector must be forced to a screeching halt. They won’t sell to us, do not want to hear that we got hardware from elsewhere and expect undeserved loyalty? That is unrequited nonsense. It is not going to happen…neither now nor later.
The Nigerian Navy SURELY have their hands on the button….Nigeria’s most sophisticated and proactive service.
ONWARD TOGETHER!!
Oga Beegeagle, your patriotic songs encored over and over again are now being danced to by nations from overseas and some top level Nigerian decision makers at home. You have long harped on this transfer of excess warships from world powers to Nigeria, by way of purchase or by ‘gratis’ in customer appreciation for our heavy patronage in buying other weapons worth hundreds of millions of dollars from them.
The west…NATO/Uncle Sam will sell you weapons and dictate to you which war you must fight or not fight with the weapons you have paid millions of dollars to buy, they still want to control the use of your weapons….your legal and lawful self defense property.
If the Chinese are handing over one of the three ships they brought to Apapa, it won’t be the Type 054 new ship, or the supply vessel non-combatant, it would be the Type 053 guided missile frigate Luoyang….
http://www.worldwarships.com/country/china?page=6&order=field_designation_value&sort=desc
http://www.worldwarships.com/class/jiangwei-ii-type-053h3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_053H3_frigate
Otherwise, if it is a ship from somewhere else in the Chinese home fleet, then it could be any ship that is probably less powerful than the Luoyang.
By hope and wish, if we are lucky to get the Type 053H3 in full combat mode, it is more powerful than NNS Aradu in her glorious days, the Chinese ship when fully armed has heavy anti-ship and anti-submarine weaponry plus navionics, including ASW rockets and anti-torpedo decoys….we need those desperately.
It comes standard with double barrel 100mm naval main guns with about 20km range anti-ship and 15km range anti-aircraft, plus ability to fire electronic counter measures anti-radar shells to jam enemy radar. If given to us in full armament mode, it will stand up to any warship in Africa, except for it’s non-stealth capability….I don’t mind, at least an enemy navy will think twice before coming to blockade Nigeria’s oceans and stop our oil and gas export business which is the life line for the daily survival of Nigeria and our future rise to greatness…
Protect the oceans, save Nigeria…..lose the oceans, paralyze Nigeria.
At last it seems that our Govt is listening. Leveraging our arms purchases from China to ensure that a used warship is thrown in for free. Oga Beegz – you have been advocating this all along- and it seems that it is now comming to pass!!
It could also be that in attacking a chinese company in Northern Cameroun and kidnapping about 10 chinese staff, BH have bitten off more than they can chew and might have inadvertently done us a huge favour- annoying the chinese to such an extent that they feel that they have to step in and provide us with millitary equipment – aerial surveillance drones included.
On another point, speaking of UAVs, the Isrealis if they really want to assist us should repair/re-activate the drones they sold us – that will be more useful tp us than sending COIN operatives to join the numerous officers from the US, UK already on the ground..
Yeah men,
I have been on record here for years, advocating for ” deal sweetners” with every purchase.
You know, getting more bang for our buck.
To accelerate our emergence from our self induced paucity of military hardware, we must link every major trade deal, military or non military, to this idea of deal sweetners.
THIS IS VERY SERIOUS
Sometimes I strain myself to believe that a Nigerian owned blog can be the PLATINUM standard for Defense blog in AFRICA AND BE QUOTED BY THE REST OF THE WORLD.Oga yagazie as they say stateside ” I am wit you on that piece of abduction” sooner or later this DOG (shekau) will get his just desserts it is only a matter of time.
I am pleased to have that confirmation that WE HAVE CHINESE DEF BLOGGERS reading his blog and are taking us serious.Don’t know what ship/ frigate / corvette/ opv they are going to give us but I know it will be not be stripped down to the hull rather it will be combat ready.
It might a gesture of good will that those Chinese who have been caught fishing illegally in Nigerian waters upon completion of their sentences they should be deported / handed over to the appropriate Chinese authorities.
GREAT MOVE by a FG showing real attitude, Mighty Yagz. We shall emerge from this crisis stronger and shall shake off many false friends who only offer big lip service.
The FG needs to look at the other uncharted turf which we have mentioned before now. Since 2000, the Nigeria LNG Ltd has awarded over US$12 billion worth of shipbuilding and marine engineering contracts to KOREAN firms such as Hyundai, Daewoo etc. It is APPALLING that for such a heavy transaction, nobody thought it fit to invite these shipbuilding and marine engineering giants to build us a completed hull of 1500+ ton ships for every single transaction in excess of US$750 million. These could have been brought into our country and any Singaporean, Israeli or Chinese firm contracted to have them configured either as OPVs or corvettes.
IF Damen coulf build the 1500+ ton DAMEN 8313 OPV for US$20million, nothing stops the Korean masters of that art from replicating that feat. A completed hull worth US$15-20 million is not too much to get as complementary item for every US$750 million. If the Koreans need to hear it upfront, Nigeria need to man up and tell it like it is.
Man wey live for wataside nor dey kari saliva wash hand. We can’t continue giving out so much in return for nothing.
Nigeria, wake up.
Affirmative. NN is matching on. I strongly advice we create a Gulf of Guinea command and have 2 capital ships stationed there. An LPD when procured could also be added.
The way I see it, NNS Thunder and the other old cutter which are obviously expensive to run should be used as advanced training ships while the Navy uses intensively newly built OPVs and frigates for day to day Navy operations. Free ships are welcome but they must be economical to run given the Navy’s limited budget. By the way Beegeagle whatever happened to our recommendations of that US$1billion extra allocation?
It is still OPEN, Alibo. Contributions are still in order because this US$1 bn procurement boon will dovetail into a multi-year plan which shall apparently be funded using appropriated funds and loans alike.
My own shopping list which takes into account prevailing prices for new and used systems alike shall yet be thrown into this mix.
Look at it this way. The NNS Thunder with a crossing range of 26,000km boasts the longest range of any military ship in Africa. So shall her sister ship, NNS Okpabana.
Yes, it takes 1 million litres@at a cost of about US$900,000 to fill those diesel tanks but it delivers tremendous mileage. Between Badagry and Jamestown it is a return voyage of 1706km. A ship with a range of 26,000km at economic patrolling speeds can deliver 15 return voyages between both ends of our coastline. Sailing continuously, fifteen end-to-end voyages would proceed non-stop for four months. That is three full tanks for a full year’s operations.
Given that estimate and making allowance for overage, not to mention occasional voyages into the deep ends of the Gulf of Guinea, let us say we need four full tanks. Even with ancillary lubrication costs, we should be able to keep each of those 3,250 ton hulks sailing at a unit cost of US$3.5-4 million annually expended on diesel. That is remarkably economical for such large ships.
Going by what Oga G8T suggests, and I have said so severally when calling for a LPD to be stationed offshore and made a floating cantonment, Nigeria should keep that LPD stationed where our waters and those of Sao Tome intersect while a Hamilton class ship on account of its great range, should be used to patrol the international waters between Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire, a voyage of 2,000km.
Assuming we didn’t forfeit bakassi pennisula, that place could have served as a serious FOB with a Naval base, Airforce Base, And possibly an army base thereby reducing reaction time to distress calls to piracy and putting us within striking range of any future aggresor coming from the sea!
The current Chinese naval foray is laden with meaning and I posit as follows.
– the presence of that Type 054 frigate and the yearlong enquiries which have directed readers to the Type 054 page on this blog tells me the following;
i. The NN are in line to receive a used Chinese frigate
ii. Now or in the near future, they shall be getting the formidable Type 054 frigates..new-build variants. The Sino-Nigerian naval cooperation is going to dominate our naval construction landscape for many years to come. Keep your eyes fixed on the NN Shipyard at PHC
iii. The current exercise will set the tone for joint operations and sea exercises. We are moving into the phase which shall involve the firing of missiles, something which some others think is a notch above what they should be doing with a black African navy.
iv. The sea training exercise is a test run for many hardware systems which shall be coming into the NN arsenal in a bit. I noted the presence of Harbin Z-9C ASW helicopters in that CHANNELS TV video clip and make bold to say that the NN are almost certain to induct that aircraft type by or before the middle of 2015.
Good morning, gentlemen.
The Oracle Has Spoken
Oga Augustine, ‘… By hope and wish, if we are
lucky to get the Type 053H3 in
full combat mode, it is more
powerful than NNS Aradu in her
glorious days,…’. Not so sir, the Aradu was way better than it! In fact it was the best ship in it class anywhere Africa! Check out the Aradu’s specs!
‘… If given to us in full armament
mode, it will stand up to any
warship in Africa, except for it’s
non-stealth capability…., Again not so, not when put in the same space as the SAN’s Meko 200s and definitely not against the Moroccan navy’s FREMM, un-arguably Africa’s tightest fight ship! That said, HAVING THAT SHIP WILL A GR8T THING! This would serve as a precursor to types like the 54, 52 or some extensively modified F23N! @ Oga Beegz, I don’t think those deals ( a whopping $12bn, Father) didn’t come with off sets, however, rather than the off sets sailing in the waters of Nigeria, they developed wings and flew to Swiss bank and some other off shore account hehehe! ‘…ii. Now or in the near future, they
shall be getting the formidable
Type 054 frigates..new-build
variants. The Sino-Nigerian naval
cooperation is going to dominate
our naval construction landscape
for many years to come. Keep your
eyes fixed on the NN Shipyard at
PHC…’. This one I love to hear. That said, I would rather that we do not invest too much in upgrades(except those upgrades are reusable) for tokumbo! The reason is simple, the tokumbo will not last too long so investing heavily on them with non reusables is not being wise
When you look at the systems on board o53 frigate they are clones or almost clones of systems on board aradu and our tiger class FAC, I guess it is logical that is what they are gifting us!!!
My Ogas Agostinho and Ifiok, the way I know them, the Type 53H1 frigates are 1980s vintage and used units were sold to Egypt, Burma and Bangladesh.
The Royal Thai Navy placed an order for four new-build Type 53H2 frigates of 1990s vintage. Bangladesh have lately placed an order for two ex-PLAN Type 53H2 which have been decommissioned.
Pakistan placed a US$700 million order for four Type 53H3 frigates and four Harbin Z-9EC ASW helicopters. Those are new-build 2000s vintage ships and are said to have exceeded most expectations. That is why the Pakistan Navy have placed a repeat order for four additional units of these F22P frigate (Pakistani designation of the Type 53H3).
IF what we are getting is the Type 53H3 frigate, that is bang contemporary and will be as good as saying that they gifted us a virtually new frigate. The Zulfiqar (Sword) Class F22P frigates of Pakistan are Type 53H3. So if we got any of those for a gift, that would exceed my wildest imagination.
If that be the case, we probably negotiated that into some other yet-to-be-announced deal namely, EITHER the exercise of the said option on ten P18N/Type 056 stealth OPVs and corvettes OR a deal for the Type 071 LPD OR a possible deal for submarines.
We shall be keeping close tabs on this one.
@ Oga Tim, how do u mean? The Aradu is armed with an oto 127mm, aspide SAM, otomat SSM, 30mm breda for ack ack different radar and sonar and a lynx ASW while the Type53H has 100mm and a crotale clone from France, C802 SSM, Z9 etc, I don’t see any similarity in systems here!
@ Ifiok, there are many different versions of Type 053 Frigate. The one in Lagos now is Luoyang and Chinese sources say she is the Type 053H3 variant armed with 300km deadly range C-803 missile that will stand up to any warship in Africa today. I Don’t know where you got ancient Crotale missile on the ship, it carries a Chinese SAM HQ-7 and because a weapon is a clone according to defense writers does not mean it is exactly the same thing. Clone in Biology is not the same as clone in military hardware, manufacturers do add or subtract things from the original version they cloned. Luoyang beats Aradu, NNS Aradu urgently needs an upgrade.
Thanks.
Finally our Navy is getting to what we want it to be. I hope our government takes serious the issue of collaborating more with the koreans to get more value from the contracts awarded to them via our NLNG. The navy needs more advanced systems to be able to totally police the gulf of guinea and our economic assets. Its indeed good times and i want to thank you Oga beeg for the good work!
ifiok umoeka on May 26, 2014 at 10:17 am
Oga Augustine, ‘… By hope and wish, if we are
lucky to get the Type 053H3 in
full combat mode, it is more
powerful than NNS Aradu in her
glorious days,…’. Not so sir, the Aradu was way better than it! In fact it was the best ship in it class anywhere Africa! Check out the Aradu’s specs!
‘… If given to us in full armament
mode, it will stand up to any
warship in Africa, except for it’s
non-stealth capability…., Again not so, not when put in the same space as the SAN’s Meko 200s and definitely not against the Moroccan navy’s FREMM, un-arguably Africa’s tightest fight ship.
REPLY
@ Ifiok my brother, it takes more than English Language to prove some things wrong o !
Oga sir, Aradu Otomat Mk 1 missile range is 80km, the Type 053H3 with C-803 missile range is 300km. Aradu has a 127mm gun single barrel, Type 053 has 100m gun double barrel meaning it fires two shells at the same time, so it’s hit is probably 50% more deadly than Aradu. Aradu’s gun does not fire anti-radar ECM jamming shells, the Type 053 fires anti-radar ECM shells. Aradu has no anti-submarine rockets, Type 053 has it. Aradu has no anti-torpedo decoys, Type 053 has it, for self defense against enemy submarines, and it is very vital since we have no submarine in Nigeria. Then many other specs I don’t want to bore you with because you be my special brother.
South African MEKO frigate has 80km range Exocet missile, FREMM Frigate Morocco and best warship in Africa has 180km range Exocet….Type 053H3 has 300km range C-803 missile, in sea battles, range is very crucial to decide who survives since all combatants are exposed on open seas with no hiding place.
The only edge the MEKO and FREMM has are stealth, CIWS and longer range SAMs, but stealth warships can be detected and locked on by radar, they only look smaller like some may be half their real size on radar screen.
The 100mm gun double barrel on the Type 053 will sink MEKO Frigates that carry 76mm guns, from a distance by out-ranging and out-gunning them.
When real war comes and warships neutralize each other’s missiles with decoys and CIWS, main heavy gun will be the only option left for combat.
Decoys, jamming/ECM and CIWS won’t save a ship from 76mm or 100mm main gun fire because shells are unguided munitions, na only go dem dey hear, explosive shell no dey hear come back o, I change my mind….
Well done NN. I don’t understand why the other services are not as open as the navy. Look where it has led.
NAF & NA, borrow a leaf (or several) from the NN, you never know where it may lead.
Nna Gen Beeg, I need send you 5 crates of star, ive been jumping up n down since this news This is the clearest indicator that the Nigerian Navy LISTENS to our sound procurement choices, Oracle beegz with the way Admiral Jubrin dey replenish ships n wat my Lt friend said, we will likely see 20 armadas soon, he was so surre, We already know 8 ships are coming our way wit dis chinese gift opv, da mc donnel hydrographic ship that brings it to 10, turkey n brazil who hv visited wit frigates r sure to increase da numbers , as it stands.
USA: 6 ships
NETHERLAND:5 ships
CHINA:3ships
Where are the Koreans n Germans? Make una wake up ooooooo
The Chinese are really good to do business with,and we should always look upto them for some of our defence and security equipments.
We are grateful to the government and the great people of China!
Congrat to the NN,Onward together.
THESE FIVE SHIPS ARE THE FUTURE OF THE CHINESE NAVY
http://complex.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/12/16/these_five_ships_are_the_real_future_of_the_chinese_navy
ROUGH GUIDE TO PRICES OF WARSHIPS
http://warships1discussionboards.yuku.com/topic/16642/Costs-of-modern-warships-compared
$ 200mil. for the f22,the pakistanis got them for $ 175mil,rather for $ 200mil we should go for the f23 frigate(China) with the russian shtil-1 SAM(range 50km) hull mounted sonar,ASROC and towed sonar decoy.
Oga Augustine, well said, my comparism was btw the Aradu representing the Meko 360 design vis the type 053, looking back @ ur post, I see that the specific vessel in question is an 053H3 and for sure it better than the Aradu (the lady is in sick bay for crying out loud), so u win hands down when we compare the Aradu and the Luoyang (though the later still lags behind in mass, a very important point when considering survivability after being hit by a close to 200kg warhead)! However, if u want to compare the Meko 200 series with the any class of the 053, be my guest. That said, forget the FREMM, they are not in the same class
Oga Ifiok, the thing was boldly written in clear language about what and what ships I was comparing. Try to read people’s comment well before you say they are wrong and then you have to be retracting your own statement. War, combat is a deadly game and you never have a second chance in reality to correct your errors when the enemy has fired through your loopholes.
I have compared Type 053H3 Luoyang with Meko 200 Valour frigate class and FREMM frigate. Luoyang in full combat mode out-ranges and out-guns all of them with superior AShM and main guns. Weapon platforms fight according to their armaments and not according to their ages or sizes. Like I said, it takes more than just writing English language to prove one equipment superior or inferior to the other, you have to put their armaments full specs on the table and try simulate a real life battlefield encounter. Luoyang if armed in full combat mode, will stand up to any warship in Africa, FREMM or Meko. Technical facts on combat armaments proves that.
For the sake of living long life, my bros, try to fear a warship that can fire a 300km range missile at you when you are armed with a 180km range missile, he will be sinking your ship to sea bottom while you are totally handicapped from firing back at him.
So far, war history has shown us that 95% of anti-ship missiles penetrate ALL fleet defences on-board warships, ECM, CIWS, main guns, etc. In naval warfare, history warns us that range of your anti-ship missile is crucial to battle survival.
My bros, I am used to having you argue points without any proof or technical data analysis to back you up, you like to use English language to win battles my brother, when real war comes, grammar won’t save you from the hand of a 300km range C-803 missile.
Nigerian navy’s next purchase should be the stealth Type 054A Frigate from China…
Onward together !
That said, like I said, having the 053H3H would be gr8t but we can’t build a credible force based on left over and hand me downs, if we want Chinese, let’s go for the best we can have taking for granted that we have a well define role for it and if Pakistan F22s can feature a hybrid system, that should be bad for us, not because Pakistan have it but it meets a need that crosses with ours
I actually pondered on why MOD called off the pipavav contract. I felt the diplomatic spat with India may have caused it but then, it appears the FG and the NN are fast considering the Chinese options and that could be a good reason for calling off the pipavav contract. My only fear is NN choice of arming. In the 80s we procured missiles in numbers and conducted several firing exercise like the famous EXERCISE SEADOG in anticipation of war. We just need to arm and project power. I feel great looking through NN Frigate/opv proflie on Wikipedia. If the turks and Chinese gifted OPVs or Frigates arrive, Bros FG is just too much but still need to put direction on acquisition. LPDs/nav helos needs to be procured ASAP.
http://emergencymanagersdigest.com/?p=173.
I suspect the “digest” was just parroting Beegeagle’s blog.
Outside of a few Nigerian online publications, Information about the Turkish warship “gift” is still very hard to find.
This article and others suggest it has been received.
Turkish govt donates warship to Nigerian Navy
on April 29, 2014 / in News 12:07 am / Comments
BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI
The Turkish government has donated a warship to the Nigerian Navy and other defence personnel in Lagos, as part of measures to boost the nation’s security on water and protection it’s territorial integrity.
Amidst fanfare and military ceremony at Apapa Ports, venue of the presentation, associates of Turkish government, especially the facilitator, Shitta-Bey’s family, were present to support the Turkish Maritime Task Group to deliver the warship to the Naval authorities.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/04/turkish-govt-donates-warship-nigerian-navy/#sthash.zCmnJCwy.dpuf
Yes all the online publications used the same press release.
The “gift” might be a “war boat” and the whole episode, a PR stunt.
Can anyone give us pics! The one shown is that of Aradu
BREAKING NEWS :
Nigerian military has located the 300 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, but won’t reveal the source while working to bring them back home.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/kidnapped-girls-located-nigeria-s-military-says-1.2654792
Everyone please forgive my digression off topic. Just happy with this news of victory ahead.
Who found the 300 girls ? Nigeria or America/NATO ?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nigeria-says-it-has-found-missing-girls/2014/05/26/6a5b60e0-e524-11e3-a70e-ea1863229397_story.html
VIEW SOME SHOTS OF A POTENT YET REASONABLY PRICED HARBIN Z-9EC HELIC
Admiral Beegeagle, well said. Since Nigerian navy has no single submarine, we desperately need the Chinese HARBIN Z-9EC Anti-Submarine Warfare Helicopters fully armed with dipping sonar, anti-submarine torpedoes (preferably rocket boosted types), and full hardware for the helicopters to also carry anti-ship missiles.
Our navy ships need protection from enemy submarines in war, or friendly submarines secretly spying on us in peacetime, the way America now spies on it’s own friends and allies ! The world has become a dangerous place in 2014 !
With anti-ship missiles capability, the Z-9EC Helicopter can be embarked on any of our two unarmed patrol ships NNS Thunder and NNS Okpabana in case of high level threat that may come up at any time, you don’t know tomorrow. Nigeria is under attack today because some people hate us from the desert, what if next time some people hate us from the ocean ? Dispute over oil and gas offshore between Nigeria and the likes of Cameroon, a weaker nation that slapped our mouth, spat in our eyes, rubbed mud on our giant face and took away a whole Bakassi Peninsular with all Nigerian citizens living there, unlike Boko Haram war where we hope to get out 300 girls back, we lost a whole generation of Nigerians forever to a weaker Cameroon in an ocean zone.
Nigerian needs at least 6 units of HARBIN Z-9EC Anti-Submarine Warfare fully equipped helicopters from China…now !
Apparently the ship was already delivered by the Turkish Maritime Task Group. 2 frigates a corvette and a replenishment vessel left for Africa and same returned to Turkey. Not a lot of information so far, but assume that it might be a patrol craft. Corvette is far too new nor were they frigates as they were present in later journeys.
Also I’ll like to ask how come the leaked Turkish Government conversation regarding arms shipment was never looked into.
Alas this ship was given to us right after that episode!
Turkish Airways did infact accept shipping arms to Nigeria for Nigerian Navy ( most likely side arms and other ammo) legally. The Arms were legally shipped and delivered to MM Lagos and the Navy confirmed transfer to Navy custody after MOD approval-The shipment was meant to be secret at both sides however, people got to know and thought it was an illegal deal to arm “rebels” . There is no serious minded nation that is so daft to smuggle weapons to rebels via international airport of a friendly country ( major trade partner in Africa).
My thinking is that the ship in question is refurbished AB25 parol craft (Turkish navy is scrapping this class slowly and has already gifted 4 pieces to 3 trade partners- Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia out of the original 12 built-There are plans to replace them with P-1200 new patrol platform too be inducted soon). Turkey is awash with several not too useful Gun boats, patrol crafts and corvettes-but they do not have a renown history of gifting attack crafts. The other strong possibility is 25m Turkish version of Point class cutter USCG ships . Either way they will be armed with 20mm MGs.
A slide of ant-piracy joint training with the Chinese.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/n/2014/0529/c98649-8734316.html
My Oga Austine, I’ve seen ur rejoinder, will respond to it, just arrive a trip!
http://shipsandports.com.ng/china-donates-to-nigerian-navy/ china donates a combat boat to NN