* Developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC)
MISSION PROFILE
– reconnaissance in the combat zone,
– intelligence gathering
– precision strike missions
TECHNICAL DATA
* Cruising speed – 220 km/hr
* Loiter Time – 12 hours.
* Can be piloted as far as 200 kilometers from base station
* Can send live feedback to the base station.
* Maximum takeoff weight – 640 kg
* Service ceiling – 5000 meters
* Maximum range – 2400 km
PANOPLY OF ARMAMENTS
* Smart Bombs
– 2 x 75kg FT-5 Chinese Small Diameter Bombs featuring 35kg warheads with a circular error probability (CEP) of 15 meters
– additional features of the FT-5 SDB include a semi-active laser (SAL) seeker to provide terminal guidance to achieve a CEP of 3-5 meters.
Ground Attack Missiles
– Purpose-built 45 kg AR-1 laser-guided air to surface missile featuring a TV seeker
* AR-1 ground attack missiles can also be equipped with Imaging IR and semi-active laser homing.
Beegeagle's Blog 
http://www.gongnews.net/unmanned-drone-with-rockets-crash-lands-in-dumge-borno-state/
Ok this is one of the most incomprehensible news reports I have read in the defence sector in a long time.The report is littered with technical, operational and contextual inaccuracies and its motives are questionable.
This is a devastatingly effective weapon system for surveillance and nght time attacks on Boko Haram convoys. We need to get as familiar as possible with the system, it’s characteristics, peculiarities and do whatever operational modifications we can to improve on its performance. It’s level of deployment around the world is still low and we are in a good position to be the most experience in its use like we currently are of the Alpha jets.
@ Are James, you got it on the head. A cooked report finds a balance between facts and lies. For now, the facts are that Nigeria possesses attack drones. Drones will be a game changer on the war against terror. The focus should not only be for attacks but for monitor the supply lines of BH.
Chief Agostinho, wia you dey o? Looks like PGMs got sneaked in under your nose?
Incomparable waffle from a writer sympathetic to the opposition. That dude is clearly writing to discredit,not that he has a story. He just rambles on and on…”make-it-up-as-you-go-along” 🙂
Rubbish, “how and when it was relocated to Borno”…does that make any sense? A-Jet aircraft have been deployed from Kainji to MDGR, Hind attack helicopters from PHC to YOL, what is wrong with relocating air combat assets as exigencies demand? Is there anything scandalous about that?
What does he mean by ‘evaded security radar?’ All of that just to create a scandal where there is none? The NAF should be looking outwards with their radars and not looking inwards for drones which were launched by the NAF?
The only thing he said which makes sense is that the weapons should be defused..nothing else. The rest is just poorly-scripted clatter. What is N32 billion? Does he have an idea what a CH-3 UACV costs or they acquired each unit for US$100 million? What does it matter it if was assembled in the CAS’s car park? All of this just to discredit the FG?
Man, forget that fiction writer. Most of our journalists are half-literate and cannot be taken anywhere without mortally wounding one’s reputation.This guy is normally a sports journalist and used to appear as match analyst on NTA during live broadcasts of soccer games. Perhaps he has ranted his way out of favour and now writes to corner ‘brown envelopes’
General, I think the designation of the armed drone is CH-3A. CH 3A UACV is a development over CH 3 with higher payload ( 180 kg, the figure needs to be confirmed)and other updates.
Anyways, congratulations for acquiring UCAV. Hope it proves as game changer in this battle.
Thanks, Bharat.
Do India use UACVs in COIN operations and what have your experiences been?
Also, I lately approved the membership of an Indian chap who might be known to you. He is known as LACHIT. Is he your buddy :-)?
STORMSLIM chipped in as follows:
loving the view of it but what is
the assurance that it really ours.
Nigerians and cynicism?
Brother, on the very day in Q4 2014 that it first flew at MAKURDI (even the journalist who wrote the funny article above knows that some are/were based there), Gbash10, a Beegeagle’s Blogger based in that city and spotted the UACV, gave us the alert SAME DAY on these pages and NAMED IT.
Who owns it? The USAF or FrAF operate CH-3 drones made in China? If that were an American drone, it would be a Predator UACV as used in Somalia, Yemen and the AFPAK region.
Use the search window on this blog to search for CH-3 drones and see how many times it has appeared since Q4 2014 when it first emerged that the military had quietly netted these priceless game changers?
Correct me if I am wrong, gentlemen, Zachary999 was saying the other night that the NAF have just taken delivery of 4 units (2 more expected) of pre-owned Alpha Jets which have been modernised..reconfigured for all weather operations and able to deliver precision guided munitions?
Yes and connect the dot to the delivery from Pakistan for the munitions, quite a number of PGB in the delivery.
Can you be a little more explainatory on the delivery from PAKISTAN” on the delivery from Pakistan for munitions”
That would be FOR THE F-7 abi?
How has that got to do with the A- JET just a little bit confused
OGA BEEGS so based on the 4+2 do we now have a squadron ( 12) of upgraded A- jets.
I see. You probably mean the weaponry on a plane which was denied access to Saudi airspace on its way to Nigeria from Pakistan
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pSl72uNBFhU
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTA5NDM4MzI=.html
Closeup of the armed model
Thanks for sharing, Kay
Nigeria own a number of satellites. Our AOR in Mali was mapped prior to our AFISMA deployment. Baga was also mapped after the April 2013 outrage there.
With these UACVs, what stops us from zeroing in on Baga with a 2×2 metre resolution and launching a night-time attack on insurgent facilities thereby, consistently degrading their asset base before ground troops move in? Even the new A-Jet Mk.2 which can fire PGMs and are night vision-compliant?
Honestly, once we get the air operations aspect of this war right, BH will be toast. That is my deeply-held conviction.
No, General, India doesn’t have UACV. The nearest that we have is anti-radiation Kamikaze drones Harop and Harpy drones from Israel.
So, I think India doesn’t have any operational experience with UACV.
Although we operate a plethora of drones of both Israel and Indian origin but operating armed drone is a different game altogether.
Our first armed drone is a good couple of years away. Rustom 1 and later Rustom c will be armed.
===================
That’s good General. I might not know him. People generally use different moniker in different forums. I hope he is someone among the best posters around in India whose posts I never miss.
LACHIT is a Kolkata guy and sounds knowledgeable like yourself ;-). I hope he turns out to be an asset here as well.
Tell me about the Kamikaze drones…you guys just ram them into anything which needs to be wrecked or what?
Looks like the IA and the paramilitary forces have stabilised Kashmir. The insurgency has lost its intensity. How is it going with the multi-pronged insurgencies in the Seven Sister States of NE India?
Thank You General.
Yes Harop and Harpy works exactly as mentioned by you. They carry a warhead and crashes into the target destroying itself and the target.
IAI Harpy is optimised to work against radars in SEAD role. It picks up radar signals zeros in and crashes into it. It has autonomous operation with some inputs of GCC. There is no need for External Pilot.
The problem with Harpy is it can’t zero in to radar which is not emitting or switched on. So here Harop comes into picture. In Harop unlike Harpy there is an EP which can direct the drone to even radars which are switched off and other static and moving target in the battlefield.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_Harpy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_Harop
=================
They are special mission drones, which are optimised for SEAD operation. You can’t use Harop to take out a technical as the drone itself costs few million dollars although it has the capacity.
So, the conventional UACV using GM are essential.
=====================
Insurgency Report in the next post.
Very interesting and funny. They really are KAMIKAZE drones. Quite drastic, hardline measures.
Yes situation in Kashmir and NE is largely stable. But, it erupts from time to time. Only yesterday a commanding officer ( highly decorated) of Colonel rank died in an operation when his QRT faced 2 terrorist. On an average 1000 patrol leaves on a daily basis, sometimes on actionable intelligence, while sometimes for cordon and search. So, many times those terrorists who are lying low too are netted.
In NE too, the situation is similar. Only a couple of months ago. A group of militants killed around 40 tribal and in a revenge attack by the tribal, 40 others were killed. As the situation worsened Army and Paramilitary swooped in with greater force to maintain peace and neutralize the target. Some members of the group were killed while a dozen arrested.
For left wing extremism, we have placed a ring around the area they operate and curtailed their ability to operate outside. Slowly we are closing in. The encounter ( and causality) generally takes place when the troops go in deep patrol into the forests. The LWE fellas hardly are able to attack the police camps in a retaliatory attack. The policy is to take out the important leaders of the groups rather the foot soldiers.
One of the the things that have be of amusement/ bemusement to me is the BEWILDERMENT of what I for a long time held such Western Magazines and BBC and CNN in such high regard it does not concern their now tired act of low ammo , human rights, it is anytime Nigeria buys something out of the Norm it is treated as ” it can’t be
Case#1 The T-72 SAGA on the regrettable NAIRALAND site despite the overwhelming evidence of Nigerian Army soldier in a head warmer that is peculiar to Nigeria alone someone was arguing that the bloke was Angolan.
Case#2 The HIND SAGA the way IHJANE covered this was interesting first they said it belonged to Nigeria then they said they would follow up, What was further interesting was the comments of some of our Algerian Brothers Naively , I would of expected them to tell BEEGEAGLE way to go Nigeria! we are in this fight together instead ” they claimed it” it is one of ours they crowed despite the dead giveaway of the distinct Camouflage scheme that is not really similar to Algeria’s oh well hope springs eternal.
In the weeks to come and going by what the President himself is saying things will get very interesting. One thing that will be be very evident the period before the election and right after the election will be ” busy”
Besides, this news is kind of a hit in China, numerous reports of it if searching for CH-3 info on Baidu, mostly excitement of seeing one of theirs involved against terrorists.
Good work, the west is slightly worried of these armed drone in Nigeria, Beegeagle blog is also getting due recognition, keep up the good work, you can see from the linke below.
http://www.popsci.com/did-armed-chinese-made-drone-just-crash-nigeria
IHS
http://www.janes.com/article/48373/suspected-nigerian-ch-3-uav-crashes
OK, that is good to know. So we now have upgraded A-Jet aircraft which are all weather airframes and can launch PGMs. Perhaps we have closed out the requirement for ground attack jets for the rest of this decade.
Here’s hoping that the requirement for air superiority and multirole assets is closed out soon.
oga beegs check your INBOX I sent you something a couple of days ago.
Only just seen it. Did not look into my email box this until this evening. Will respond as soon as I can
@Buchi. That is because nothing new has cropped up by way of new developments. If it shapes up, I would not delay to let you.
oga beegz i havent gotten any reply to that stuff i sent u
Not related.
Egypt has ordered for;
4x Godwin corvettes 2500tons with an option of an extra 2.
And are negotiating 2x Fremm frigates, and 20-24 Rafael jets.
Chai, I am envy green.
what century will we be able to do this? Egypt,a nation with a 272 billion dollar economy.(3X Lagos of 90)
our GDP per capita is 3000 dollars and theirs is 3300.
http://www.lindaikeji.blogspot.com/2015/01/soludos-self-serving-article-on.html#more
Unrelated but to address OGA ADEKOLA
As one of the oldest members on this blog I ALWAYS post POSITIVE financial news about Nigeria
I hope as time goes on my INTEGRITY will remain intact, when I CRITICIZE GEJ or the ADMINISTRATION it is because they are the incumbent administration, they are the ones with the power, I also come from mixed family half Muslim ( mom) and half Christian ( dad) which for some reason in Nigeria’s present day society is Important ( not to me).
Finally let me stress this to the GEJ administration, they will go down in HISTORY as the first administration to acquire armed DRONES
There is a lot of CRAP going on in Baga it is very important the f.g. respond appropriatley when these drones see action a FILTERED/ CENSORED version MUST BE SHOWN already speculation is rife that this is becoming a big MORALE BOOST for our troops let us make sure the shroud makes stay BUSY IN BAGA AND MONGUNO
GOD bless Nigeria.
*Appropriately*
Egypt realise that they are big boys and do not need to pretend that they are midgets. It is an attitude which Nigeria must emulate.
We must stop making token gestures and seeking validation from anyone. If it does not fly, try a PLAN B but by all means, we must keep moving.
The acquisition of armed CH-3 drones is more like the right attitude which we must possess. For too long, we have tiptoed on the big stage like we are walking on egg shells. We must assert our right to the advancement of our national interest and to make sovereign choices.
Sir Beegs, happy new year (even though January is almost over!) It’s a delightful thing to see the armed CH-3 UAV in our arsenal! Either IHJ report it as suspected or not, it doesn’t matter! I have 2 main interests now;
1. I do wish the NAF has at least 10 of these things so that we do not overwork them. It’s good to have enough of them so that we can at any point in time sustain pressure on Boko haram with some of them while others are in for routine maintenance and rest.
2. I also wish the NAF and army are working on technology transfer to be able to improve on Amebo II, especially in terms of endurance and speed. Together with the Nigerian space agency, some Amebo variants can be rigged with high power cameras in the near future and used exclusively for surveillance.
Talking of other fixed winged assets now, I keep reading about acquisition and clamour for JF 17. To be honest, I think it’d be better if we acquire those in very little numbers, they are not battle tested yet. May be 12 with 4 of them being trainer versions, acquired alongside some Yak-130. In my opinion, we need battle tested platforms like Su 27 (mix of used and new from Russia and Ukraine totalling about 25) and ultimately Su-30 (at least 15 of these from Russia) something in the class of the MKM variant, all in reasonable numbers, not less than 40 in total. Boko haram fight has come to expose the lack in all areas of our military and I do hope the military chiefs and the government would make good use of the opportunity to upgrade our military and acquire platforms to serve for now and remain relevant for the next decade. We should acquire beyond the fight against boko haram! We have neighbours like Cameroon and Chad that are dying of envy and need to be placed where they belong (through our actions). China, India and Pakistan have basically learnt to do their own things under the tutelage of Russia while their dignity is kept intact, we need to do same too.
I see the use of these drones as a morale booster to our infantry and NAF men alike. Does anyone have the latest info on our men undergoing training in Russia? I hope they will also come with their own surveillance assets like the ZALA 421-08 or something in the class of Black Hornet Nano
beegeagle says:
January 28, 2015 at 12:37 pm
Chief Agostinho, wia you dey o? Looks like PGMs got sneaked in under your nose?
Reply
Oga sir, the matter be like when smuggler outwit custom officer for Seme border o! Honestly I go inside bush go piss when dem smuggle dat Drone+PGM pass my checkpoint! Em, em…oga will I be sacked for negligence?
LOL
COINCIDENTALLY, a new member wrote the following last week. There are so many things ongoing which “prove me wrong” will not answer.
WILLIAMS CHIPPED IN AS FOLLOWS…
As a civilian who grew up from a military background and having uncles who have reached high ranked positions in the army and also a follower of this group without making comments for 2years, I have learnt a lot in terms of military equipment.
I have noticed recently which has prompted me to make comments here today that Certain people on this blog are quick to make judgement on matters which they have little or no knowledge about and also without facts to support their judgements…..why would someone say the Chadian or Cameroonian army is better armed or trained than the Nigerian Army? that is such a laughable yet annoying statement. it only shows the person have little or no knowledge about the Nigerian army and I suspect such a person isn’t a Nigerian and an Enemy..
Yes,the Nigerian army has deteriorated ( but not to a level of not defeating the so called Boko haram or the Chadian army (if there is a war).
Yes the military needs new modern equipment to face the on going war
Yes our government woke up late to fight this menace
Yes our government seems slow to react (due to political and international reasons)
Yes there are foreign and local elements sabotaging this war
Some claim the Chadians are up to mischief……well, they could be right but if they can’t bring up concrete fact to defend their claims, I suggest they stop fanning unnecessary words of war against a neighbour in which so far has displayed kindness to our IDPs.
As I recently had an argument with a Retired military chief, I was of the opinion that our military needs to procure Guided missiles (which they don’t have according to some people on this blog) and the next question this military chief asked me was
1. Do I have the market list of what the $1billion was used to procure?
2. Are you among those who went to source and buy weapons recently from Russia?
3. Have u recently been to where military weapons are kept to take a stock of what we have or not?
Well, I couldn’t answer such questions and was dumbfounded……..then he said, until you have done any these, then you don’t have the right to say the military doesn’t have guided missiles which are not heavy equipment like warplanes or tanks.
Nothing stops the military from raising the whole affected places by boko harm to dust. It wouldn’t cost us $1billion to do. In fact, we don’t need to ‘re arm to do that…we have enough bombs and mortars for that.
Nothing stops the government from sending in 60, 000troops well armed to cleans the 3 affected states.
Nothing stops the government from sealing our borders
Nothing stops the government from removing all the governors of the 3 affected states and place military heads which would use all funds allocated to the state the fight the war.
Have u asked why the government hasn’t done all this?
This is to tell you that there is more to this than what we read in the newspapers. “Some foreign elements are waiting patiently for the government to “misbehave” so that they can send know troops which in turn not only damages our reputation but also give access to our intelligence and take control of US………just like Iraqi”. This statement came from a top military chief rtd.
He also said, our refusal to accept a devilish act (gay shit) is what is making the western world work against us. We Nigeria determines what happens in Africa. As soon as we rejected the gay hit, other African countries did same even when the west threatened to remove it’s aids to Africa. They stated by stop purchasing our crude oil but to their surprise, we are still soaring high. Now they think Boko harm would bring us to our knees…..they would be really surprised what would happen soon.
also, I would like to state here that Nigeria has always been a jealoused and envied country and now that we have a very diplomatic president, it has made it even worst. Nigeria is growing in all it’s sectors and the military would within 2years develop to a very formidable force throughout Africa and beyond as long as we continue to ‘re equip, train and learn. This boko haram issue is only wakeup call from God for Nigeria to improve it’s military just as how Ebola was a wakeup call to out health sector which even brought the so called west to come learn from our health sector.
In my opinion, the west has seen from their Witches and demons that Nigeria has been blessed to lead Africa (the black race) as one formidable continent. You all may not understand but I speak in a position of surety that there has been a BIG plot against Nigeria both Military, Financially and economically. Do not be surprised if you hear the west do something drastic against us real soon……very soon. Cameroon and chad are just naive and afraid. South Africa is just stupid and dumb…controlled By the West. The fall of Nigeria is the fall of the black race.
I would keep saying it out loud. NIGERIA IS THE GREATEST AND MOST BLESSED COUNTRY THAT IS EXISTING OR WOULD EXIST.
My Conclusion is ………As long as you are not in the defence office to know exactly what is going on and plans, I rather suggest our comments and judgements should be based on logical reasoning and ideas to support or military.
Thanks
Good to know, my friend.
ROSCOE PROVIDED THIS LINK
View at Medium.com
LOL…no, it crashed in Waziristan. Na only una wey strategic advantage good for..
Wow everything I said earlier on is true some people are truly dumbfounded that Nigeria can have the audacity to have armed drones.What is the world coming to these days? T-Mobile. America’s First Nationwide 4G Network
Oga beeg, your American Friends are distorting facts again. From your link
“Commandos from U.S. Army Africa offered to train Nigerian commandos. But in early December, the U.S. abruptly canceled a training program because of mounting discomfort with the Nigerian military’s human rights abuses.”
Lol…….. so the U.S cancelled the training, alright, I see.
That is blatantly untrue.
Nigeria it was which called off the training in apparent exasperation after the same US who were training a battalion for Nigeria, curiously blocked the sale of pre-owned AH-1 Cobra attack helics to Nigeria by Israel.
Make them go call Olokpa
ROSCOE CONTRIBUTED AS FOLLOWS
Freeegulf, I agree that men are important. however modern warfare has become about firepower. Just like the longbow revolutionized warfare and the stirrup calvary charges, stand off capability and CAS is the imprimatur of a modern army.
No matter how good perimeter defence is, if a large force pins down a defender with overwhelming firepower, the perimeter will be over run and the bases will fall, hence mortars, grenade launchers, mines/claymores, HMGs, LMGs and missiles come into play. all the technical are doing is keeping the defenders heads down while the dismounts maneuver. Quickly destroying the technical with their AA will allow defenders leave to pin and funnel their opponents into predetermined fire lanes for arty and mortars do their work.
I think we are being a little hard on our men, I am not sure we can stand the decimation of our front line troops to hold on to ground. if a force has held an FOB for 4 hours. it should be re supplied by convoy or by air. or else there is a chance they are out of ammo (a big chance). If there is no air support then there must be Arty and QRF deployed for a counter attack to push the OPFOR back. No supplies, no QRF, no air support and no arty is a recipe for pyrrhic victories, we will hold ground and bleed men, abeg o, 9ja blood must be precious to spill, lets leave the large casualties to BH.
MORE
I have a lot of respect for the website “war is boring”, but this is not a good piece by Adam Rawnsley, first he says the US (and not Nigeria) called off the training of soldiers,, which is revisionist history, since we cancelled the program. And he does not seem complimentary of our efforts to become a drone power
, Plus the tone seems very much anti drone , is he pacifist or a blogger on the topic of war? He should take his own advice and stop planting propaganda in social media.
He does go ahead and clarify that the US definitely nixed the cobra deal , well… ,more hinds for us 🙂
@ oga ROSCOE, big kudos for your support and knowledge of the NE campaign. it might seem that i m a bit hard on the troops defending bases, however, the strategy for their defense is what i found deeply troubling. from my indepth understanding of land warfare, i would expect the NA high command to send those troops back to baga and monguno to redeem themselves and their reputation as nigerian sojas.
yes firepower is the essential tool for victory. but i would say this, nothing beats SOUND TACTICS. irrespective of the firepower that troops posses, should they lack fire discipline or the right tactics, the weapons would be mere donation to the oppo forces.
you mentioned the menace of BH tecnicals and their potency during attacks. now here lies the problem. no solid commander worth his salt would even allow BH to mass up for attack on the base in the first place. in fact, having massed up terrs attacking an FOB is a failure on it own. the only reason insurgents should be present and attacking is if the FOB commander is trying to lure terrs into a trap to grind them to dust. a well defended base would only be compromised by infiltrators rather than full scale dust raising BH hilux
like i said before, when it comes to defending a set perimeter, its not about gallant troops or lack of that is the priority, rather, it is the command and control leadership element. and how this leadership element prepare an impregnable defense of the garrison. for this reason, i put the blame largely on the officers and base commander.
there are basics that should never be compromised, irrespective of supply headaches. i dont know if its proper to elaborate here on defense in-depth and high tactics. i will simply try and highlight them rather than go deeper into any specific salient defense.
first, what is expected would be for a base commander to conduct proper surveillance and thorough reconnoiter of his AOR and garrison town. he should take his artillery officer with him and pre register fire in multiple coordinates.
second, he should fortify his garrison with as much materials he can lay his hands on as possible. a good commander wont have to moan and whine about lack of hesco or TOW. no, he would use materials local to the area. with fortification comes, mines, booby traps, block house, decoy, false block houses, high tower, false trails, support weapons nests, and heavy support weapons such as HMGs, field howitzers medium and heavy mortars. all these would be for the sole purpose of channeling the attackers ( attackers you know are coming and should be prepared for) into well prepared killing zone to decimate them
third, fighting patrols. sitting down waiting for the enemy is the fastest way to disaster. the key here is reconnaissance, more reconnaissance, and more reconnaissance. a good commander should be able to dominate his AOR by skillfully using his terrain to his fighting advantage. these patrols would aggressively seek the enemy and rout them. this goes back to my earlier point, with proper reconnaissance, there should be no way for BH to mass troops around the FOB and surprise the defenders. it means combat intelligence are doing a poor job.
sending out patrols the soldiers will meet and familiarize themselves with the locals. now, no matter how much support the terrs gets from the locals, a good CMIL would mean the troops and in extension combat intelligence, would get an up to date picture of the activities of the terrs. so the element of surprise would hardly be an advantage to the terrs. yes it also means the terrs would have a decent picture of troops position from spies and sympathizers which can make infiltration possible, but full scale attack would still be suicide, irrespective of the eyes and ears they have on ground.
there are so many adv to aggressive patrolling. yes, its forever present danger for the patrol force, but i would say this, nothing beats aggressiveness in combat. the most aggressive side always win the day. even if they are vanquished due to overwhelming odds, the other side would have to pay very high in casualties and resources to defeat an aggressive army.
lastly, the combination of ambush teams, tactical and operational reconnaissance, LPs and OPs (with direct and indirect support weapons) as an early warning networks for the garrison, and to act as a screening force would suffice to destroy the terrs.
i should add that these OPs are not dispensable forces that should be use as sacrificial lambs. yes, they buy time for the garrison, however, they can conduct a fighting withdrawal, while being covered by the artillery battery from the main base.
so in all, defense in-depth is a system. its not just about gallant sojas, or machine guns and expensive gadgets. rather, its built in a way were the enemy’s reach is shortened while at the same time, the defenders do everything to make it impossible for the oppo forces to mass men and material for the attack.
we should please stop blaming the air force. if NA cant fight boko haram without screaming air support, then there is something fundamentally wrong with this present crop of officers in the army. NAF only has to provide helicopters for liaison, supplies, medvac, and utility. for operational surveillance, cheap Cessnas can fulfill that role and even artillery spotting also. the NA has artillery and other heavy weapons. let them put their FOO to good use. NAF is merely making their lives a bit easy, they shouldnt build any plan solely on the availability of CAS.
every decent officer should be familiar with the above. its basic combat study in every Kriegsakademie. i believe our war schools are still some of the best on the continent. it doesnt take a napoleon to carry out all of the above
garrisoning and defending a base even goes deeper than these, unfortunately, i would stop here.
War is a combination of both manpower (Physical and intellectual) plus firepower (Equipment and ordnance).
Oga freeegulf, on the issue of battlefield tactics for NA, I am with you 100%, nice piece you wrote there, I mean your second comment. Nigerian army field officers should take their tactics up one notch higher, COIN war is about ‘who is smarter’, assuming both sides have equal firepower. NA tactics for defending bases have been poor in many cases, I don’t see a Nigerian base with fortifications, all I see is Toyota Hilux and Cobra APC as their ‘defensive positions’….. looks like a lazy army that does not want to dig trenches, sandbag, set traps, build watchtowers, machine-gun nests and bunkers, lay anti-personnel mines, set up cable cord detonation charges/explosives, use of lightweight sticky plastic explosives, etc. No wonder they lose bases and lose Cobra APCs.
These are very basic infantry tactics tested and proven effective for over 100 years by armies all over the world. I don’t know what tactical courses teaching and training NDA gives our officers nowadays, it’s like the 5 minutes fast cooking noodles idea of “Your Cobra APC is your field base’s fortification”…..
What training are these NA boys getting today at NDA ?
yes lazy, feet dragging, that’s the psyche of the “codiene generation” Nigeria has to offer. During the civilwar, logistics was a serious problem on the federal side and we all know how the successionist held their own with “one man one bullet” yet our codiene boy would be telling us that they cannot fight with three magazines per man when the enemy is using thesame ammunition. By the way, I greet everybody on this blog, I’ve been gone for long though watching from the sides
well said oga augustinho. the idea of base defense is a conception that the NA still does not take seriously.
the sad part is that they would end up employing advisers who would carry out the correct tactics mentioned above and successfully destroy boko convoys. with the attendant glory to go with saving the nigerian army
we really do turn basics into rocket science. manoeuvre that an average officer should be able to pull successfully, would suddenly turn into a thing strictly for military genius