Ground troops of the Nigerian Airforce Regiment
WORLDSTAGE
27 October, 2015
In a renewed drive to further degrade the Boko Haram terrorist s, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said its Alpha Jets have successfully carried out airstrikes and destroyed the sect’s vehicle workshops, fuel and ammunition dumps all within the Sambisa forest.
According to a statement by Air Commodore Dele Alonge, Director of Public Relations and Information,Nigerian Airforce, this feat came as a result of a painstaking Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) efforts by the NAF’s Unmanned Aerial vehicle (UAV) and ATR-42 platforms.
The Chief of Air Staff,Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar therefore assured all Nigerians that with these successful strikes on the insurgents, their capabilities have been further degraded to pave the way for the final onslaught by the land forces to meet the Commander-in-Chief, President Mohammadu Buhari’s directives to bring insurgency in the North-East to an end.
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Imagine we had a squadron of SU-25s with the latest tech for this job.
Abi ooo Oga Adetayo’s Blog. Mission(s) would be easily undertaken effectively and and efficiently. The target(s) would be precisely and “lethaly” hit. We won’t be having so much stress accomplishing missions had it been we had SU-25. But we should really appreciate NAF that are able to carry out their missions with these “flying coffins”. All Hail NAF pilots. The good days are coming–yeah, look on the horizon–it’s almost breaking.
Lovely News just made my day.
Job well done NAF! God’s speed to the gentle men on the ground. I dream of what NAF would achieve with a squadron of dedicated ground attack/close air support fixed wings, a squadron of attack helicopters and the an excessive supply of both precision guided and unguided munitions. Let’s see how long it takes the government to do significantly equip NAF!
I do hope NAF will develop interest in the new CH-5 form China. Acquisition of 6 pieces of such will help NAF immensely. Also, If the ATR ELINT platforms are proving their worth as we have been seeing, then NAF needs to buy at least 2 more or perhaps up their game to acquisition of 2 Embraer P-99s. In future, one of them can be modified with full AEW&C compliments to function as AWACS.
Nigerian Military: 338 Captives Rescued From Boko Haram
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/nigerian-military-rescues-338-captives-boko-haram-raids-34791038
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/10/fg-unfolds-n92-2-billion-marshall-plan-for-n-east/
Un- related but equally important.
There has to be a coherent plan in plan now to follow up when boko haram has been utterly defeated.
Equally important the Armed Forces of Nigeria needs to be SUBSTANTIALLY up graded to meet further challenges down the road
Challenges:
The ARMY @ this stage needs to increase in size to 120,000- 130, 000 ( happening)
The recent retraining of the ARMY NCOS should be extended to both the army and Air force
There needs to be more QRFs in the Air force
For once and for all the Nigerian Army needs to get rid off the AK-47 AND upgrade to the AK-74 or the AK103
Nigeria should start producing their own rockets ( unguided and guided) as well as surface to air missiles for both SEA ( NAVY) and Air ( Air force)
God bless you for the above comment oga jimmy.
Nigeria is long overdue for production of guided munitions, we are building a space satellite, we should not forget our basic arms and ammunition technology requirements for local production.
AFIT-NAF production workshop deserves the urgent attention of president Buhari, AFIT seems to be seems the best local platform to launch the presidential masterplan for a new Nigerian medium industry for defense.
An AFIT leader should have been on the president’s team to India instead of a state governor. Laser guidance and heat seeker technology is the missing thing in AFIT today, get it for these our engineers, pay India for the tech transfer, and you will see AFIT making medium size guided rockets and man small sized guided missiles next year 2016. AFIT can arm Gulma and Amebo drones with PGM.
President Buhari, please fund AFIT Kaduna, and invest enough money on their projects, that bomb disposal robot they build is what Israel has now made into armed land drones for reconnaissance in dangerous zones, an idea they got from their advanced Israeli robot technology.
On rifles, egbon jimmy what about the Beryl rifle we are testing now in the battlefields, any reports on it’s performance?
Nigeria currently uses the AKM and Nigerian made variant OBJ-006 rifles. The AKM being the not so different successor to the original AK-47 which is now very rare on battlefields. The two rifles look almost the same, hard to tell the difference except from the nozzle.
OBJ 006 is said to be a slight improvement above the AK-47 but I doubt it’s anything much different in performance, OBJ 006 specifications remain classified, but it’s no magic rifle, just the good old ever reliable AK series.
Whatever replacement we choose, maybe cost of local production license will judge between AK-74 variant far superior to the AK-47 or AKM, and the other option of Beryl rifle.
*small sized guided missiles*
*in place*
Sorry for detailing. Did anyone notice that the NA didn’t advertise for SSC and DSSC this year? Recruitment was done twice form soldiers but aside the normal recruitment for RCs, none was done for SSC and DSSC. I know there is a shortage of officers at the junior level. Wonder what’s going on…
kind of news that makes coffee even better
I think NAF should adopt a new policy. The expected Su-25 Frogfoots might just painfully arrive after the war is over unless expedited. However, we have no Su-25 pilots so even if the jets arrive today who will fly them?
Since we are prone to the spirit of avoidable delays in Nigeria as a whole, NAF can adopt a new policy in the interest of national security and emergencies.
1. Show interest in a new aircraft
2. NAF evaluation team do their part
3. Submit proposal for acquisition to FG
4. FG approval obtained and funds awaited
5. Send two pilots for training overseas on that aircraft
If the usual delay happens, by the time the aircraft arrives we have at least two qualified pilots to fly them. NAF should have sent two Alpha jet pilots for training on the Su-25 since acquisition plan reached funding stage last year. The first two pilots would have completed 6 months training many months ago!
NAF needs to remember that for modern jet aircraft like F-16, Mirage 2000, JF-17 Thunder, an experienced pilot needs at least one year to learn how to fly them safely. A rookie flyer will need two years to qualify as an F-16 pilot and not even in the top league.
It takes years to develop elite pilots, it’s not like Nigerian army buying T-72 tank today and we have tank crew for it in 30 days.
A half baked jet fighter pilot will kill himself and kill innocent civilians on the ground when he crashes over a city. Let’s not die before our God appointed time.
NAF, if you want to buy a 4th Gen jet fighter in 2016, you will not have a top class combat pilot for it until 2018, if care is not taken, it can be year 2020 with the Nigerian spirit of avoidable delays.
Thank you sir.
Good points, I raised a similar concern in the past with a Mid-level officer on training at Cranfield, to which he implied “you will be shocked to know that NAF pilots train on multiple platforms, even ones we currently don’t operate. The number of pilots on these programmes might not be much, but they do go on courses for some of these platforms.”
Although they may not be aces on these platforms, but they have the basic training and should not find it difficult to convert. The main issue is not getting qualified pilots, rather its getting the required platforms, if push comes to shove, we can hire pilots from eastern Europe.
@Oga Augustine, does it really take that long for an experience fighter pilot who has been flying combat missions to take a long time to qualify to fly a 4th Generation fighter jet in the era flight simulators ?
Despite not having any dedicated COIN aircraft and zero guided weapons, so far a good job by the personal efforts and blood sacrifice of NAF pilots. Thank you boys, surveillance crew, jet fighter crew, helicopter crew. God bless you.
Good Move NAF,
It’s important more ISR and ISTAR assets are emplaced for Final Onslaught. Moee ATR’s and more UAV’s. Then we urgently need PGM’s for all Aircraft, the PGM’s added to our Alpha’s has made them lethal. Meanwhile now the NSA and DEFSEC are in India can we talk about the Jaguars? And I also heard Army Captured 4 BH members, Rescued 338 Women and Children, Killed more BH members today. So Operation Today is a Successful one.
Let the DIA, SSS, NPF Counter Terrorist Units work on Urban Surveillance in BH Enclaves most Especially in Borno. A Total Grid Blanket should have started to smoke out BH Cells. As Military onslaught happens the Terrorist will obviously flee to Urban Areas to blend in, what are the Negate Efforts inplace? Ambush Points? Blanket Systems? Pursue and Destroy Strategy. We need a Relentless Pursue and Destroy Strategy that will keep BH members running continously best way to weaken them but demands A Crazy Logistic Planning though.
Good job NA! More of this
Oga to4shizzle, what is the name of the PGM added to NAF Alpha jets or any source of info to confirm we now have PGM on Alpha jets?
Boko Haram: NAF Conducts 1448 Air Sorties in 4 Months
http://prnigeria.com/2015/10/boko-haram-naf-conducts-1448-air-sorties-in-4-months/
NAF C-130 AC….what variant is that? AC-130 is a gunship Hercules and only the USAF operates them. Very powerful COIN platform, but surprised USAF is not deploying them against ISIS, probably afraid of ISIS anti-aircraft missiles. Hercules is a big and easy target for enemy SAM air defences.
Nigerian Army declares 100 Boko Haram terrorists wanted
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/192260-nigerian-army-declares-100-boko-haram-terrorists-wanted.html
Sorry, off topic. Not much recent naval news.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/10/royal-navy-warship-arrives-in-nigeria-to-boost-armed-forces-morale/
Now they are committed huh? Where were these people when bh occupied territory inside Nigeria, now they want to boost moral, please
Oga Sir Kay, they were busy towing the US line discreetly.
The British have started rewriting history :
“The United Kingdom yesterday re-iterated its commitment to ASSISTING Nigeria defeat the dreaded Boko Haram sect, whose activities have claimed thousands of lives.”
Britain has now declared itself as militarily assisting Nigeria to defeat Boko Haram at the last minute, because a Royal navy frigate is in Lagos and British army is training a few NA NCOs.
So we now share the glory with Britain in the annals of war history….after over half a thousand Nigerian soldiers, pilots, air force SF and navy SF shed their life blood fighting for 6 years and recovering 45 Boko Caliphate towns in 45 days in a world class German army style blitzkrieg.
Truly, you British are smart glory hunters. How many British troops died fighting Boko Haram?
😂 Oga Augustine, you crack me up sometimes. Everyone is competing for some glory. History will be revised in due course if Naija is not careful.
Its the job of the British Army to fight Boko Haram, defend Nigerian territory or citizens?
http://www.shephardmedia.com/news/imps-news/hiosl-set-new-patrol-vessel-delivery/
HIOSL company should ask Damen to build the vessel in Nigeria next time, the manufacturer encourages the buyer to ask Damen technicians to come build for buyer at home, a marketing strategy by the company. Why did the Nigerian company chose to import when we can have it built here?
“Damen Technical Cooperation enables you to build your Damen vessel locally, anywhere in the world. We will provide you with a prefabricated shipbuilding kit and can, on request, combine this with expert assistance, training and backup. By using standardised components it is possible to make a custom-built design, fulfilling any specific local requirements. This cost-efficient technique can be applied to the full range of Damen vessels across a wide variety of marine operations.
One in five Damen vessels is built locally on-site by Damen Technical Cooperation.”
http://products.damen.com/en/ranges/fast-crew-supplier/fcs-3307
I think it is just down to capacity at the moment. Infrastructure not yet in place to facilitate multi-platform build.
NAF should please publish it’s new 2015-2030 strategic development plan just like the NN published theirs on internet and newspapers in 2008. It can also be added on NAF official website. Let NAF show the world that it is working and planning for a better future.
Thank you sir, COAS.
Alleged BH rocket factory
http://www.nairaland.com/2699598/boko-haram-releases-pictures-rocket
Unguided rockets , just like the ones Hamas builds in Gaza but with less expertise, They have nowhere near the capability Hamas has and no friendly buffer zone to fire from. Nothing more than a PR stunt, I doubt they have more than a hundred poorly developed unguided rockets with a range of less that 3 miles. You cant hit a football field with those suckers. You have to point it a large city and hope it hits a viable target. Little military value , pure terror value. I would be more concerned about their home made mortars. At least they can range those using a Forward observer.
This factory is not on Nigerian soil. Correct?.
There’s no way to tell where its located.
There is nothing more that brings defeat to an Army than underestimating your opponents, This forum should not be a “talk show”, what we see in that photograph is an organized foe, that still nurtures ideas of winning. We need to act fast and decisively before this joke develops more capabilities, so far we are luck they have not hit any urban centres which resides multiple ethnic groups and local indigenous on the other side.( Abuja is still a bit of no man’s land in the areas hit), this could be very devastating on the economy and in turn on the ability to prosecute the war, Many Countries will be glad that we will lose biggest economy in Africa status and others their prediction that Nigeria would break seems to be coming on just as they want. ( like they are trying to break Syria and Kurd Iraq), No matter how many people are dying in the Middle East, it is all just on TV, no shortage of buggers in the US, No reduction in the size of fish and chips in UK. upon all the noise nobody really cares, just some excitement in the TV/news to a boring daily routine for westerners.
The action has to be all encompassing, overwhelming, steady and screw tightening
– Adequate numbers of military and local CJTF in engagement with constant and relentless pursuit to throw them in disarray( taking away attack initiative, communication and orderly retreat from BH cadres)
– Local CJTF and Hunters cordoning off all escape routes from the frontline.
– DSS and Police flooding the bordering urban centres and check points with Local CJTF
– DSS leveraging all resources in synergy with Local Government officials to vet all strange faces, giving friendly and protect access to informants and people willing to pass information.
Nation wide all Governors should meet with heads of communities to get them on board to be focal persons responsible for vetting new comers to their communities.( The BH is taking RR in urban areas when the going is hot).
Most importantly the security forces must get the respect and cooperation of all Nigerians by giving the same back in all circumstances and to all levels of people.
NAF should urgently add stand-off air to ground missiles to all Mi-24, Mi-35, Mi-171 assault and armed transport helicopters.
This will allow NAF helicopter pilots to hit Boko Haram anti-aircraft gun defences from 2 km to 3 km away safely out of range of enemy fire.
We can buy cheap Russian second hand stocks of Ataka guided missiles with thermobaric warheads mostly and a few HEAT warheads for as low as $10,000 each for use with 5 years shelf life still in them. NAF pilots will learn better how to use guided munitions in real war.
Apart from Dshk. What else do they have that is relatively heavy? I dont think we need guided rockets, unguided rocketry should do the job or even heavier caliber guns. I think choppers can kill those gun trucks relatively easily, the big deal is their is little to know air cover when a Combat Post gets hit, it would be nice to have some LAW or even a recoiless rifle that can be used to hit those vehicles when they come up to give suppressing fire, Heck even a sniper with a 50 cal can destroy the engine block with one shot from 800 yards.
I dont think the problem is fire power to kill technicals
.
Oga Roscoe, the super powers who created guided rockets/missiles for helicopters have a good reason for inventing it. Let’s not try to be wiser than those who are a hundred years ahead of us. Russia is using guided munitions to attack ISIS in Syria today, their Su-25 Frogfoots are avoiding anti-aircraft fire, are we wiser?
Does Nigerian army have any LAW ? You seen one lately? I just recommended the Indian RCL MK III LAW this week, and I hope our president Buhari comes back home with at least 100 units of the launchers.
Dshk will bring down even an Alpha jet if it scores a good hit. Last time NAF Mi-35 was damaged by Boko Haram machine gun very recently. You keep damaging your $15 million aircraft because you do not want to use $10,000 guided munition, any sense in that? Are we not penny wise and pound foolish?
Russia built Mi-35 helicopters to be armed with guided weapons for a good reason, go ask them why my brother.
Africa puts security hopes in foreign-funded, home-grown strike force
http://news.yahoo.com/africa-puts-security-hopes-foreign-funded-home-grown-121207922.html
Disgraceful, yet many African leaders are billionaires and multimillionaires , yet can’t fund that continent’s security efforts
There is nothing more that brings defeat to an Army than underestimating your opponents, This forum should not be a “talk show”, what we see in that photograph is an organized foe, that still nurtures ideas of winning. We need to act fast and decisively before this joke develops more capabilities, so far we are luck they have not hit any urban centres which resides multiple ethnic groups and local indigenous people on the other side.( Abuja is still a bit of no man’s land in the areas hit), this could be very devastating on the economy and in turn affect the ability to prosecute the war, Many Countries will be glad that Nigeria will lose biggest economy in Africa status and others who predicted that Nigeria would break would see coming on, just as they want. ( like they are trying to break Syria and Kurd Iraq), No matter how many people are dying in the Middle East, it is all just on TV, there is no shortage of buggers in the US or reduction in the size of fish and chips in UK. Upon all the noise, nobody really cares, just some excitement in the TV/news to a boring daily routine for westerners.
The action has to be all encompassing, overwhelming, steady and screw tightening
– Adequate numbers of military and local CJTF to engage BH with constant and relentless pursuit tactics to throw them in disarray (taking away attack initiative, communication and orderly retreat from BH cadres and even physical well being – sleeping , feeding, etc)
– Local CJTF and Hunters cordoning off all escape routes from the frontline.
– DSS and Police should saturate the bordering urban centres and man check points with Local
CJTF
– DSS leveraging all resources in synergy with Local Government officials to vet all strange faces, giving friendly and protect access to informants and people willing to pass information.
Nation wide all Governors should meet with heads of communities to get them on board to be focal persons responsible for vetting new comers to their communities.( The BH is taking RR in urban areas when the going is hot).
Most importantly the security forces must get the respect and cooperation of all Nigerians by giving the same back in all circumstances and to all levels of people. Asymmetric warfare requires a joint and concerted effort by all Nigerians.
The training by the so called Foreign Expert from Tunisia is worrisome.
The unguided rockets are highly inaccurate but can cause panic however they gave away their source,
It is also also obvious that bh is in desperate need of help hence the turn and fealty to isis, the dss needs to step up their game and destroy this factory whether it is on Nigerian/ Nigerien/ Cameroonian or Chadian Soil..
“Give the men the resource, the capability, the opportunity and they will do the job right—,The resource is the right aircraft—,the capability is to have the right weapons to strike and come back alive !
The FG should please do this to the NAF and the NAF should please publish the declassified part of its 15 years Air Power Doctrine for scrutiny by the Nigerian general public.
Oga gbash10, every aircraft is different in complexity. Standard qualifying time for a pilot will vary accordingly, and for F-16 it’s two years to train a new F-16 pilot, does not matter if he had been flying Mirage 2000 jet for 10 years.
Simulators do not give pilots the real feel of flying, maneuvering, pulling high g, flying against heavy wind, landing in bad weather, feeling aircraft airframe flight response to instruments control, it’s a theory class of make belief practicals.
JF-17 is said to be simple to fly, buy hey, it’s a 4th gen aircraft not 3rd gen like the F-7 that has lots of analog instruments and avionics, the JF-17 is digital.
You can fly an aircraft in a year of training, but can you do the complex air to air dogfight combat maneuvers without stalling or crashing the jet? I can fly is different from I can fight.
Better to master your aircraft for two years than to risk crashing a $25 million jet and killing a squadron leader pilot.