By Gift Samuel and Daniels Nwokike
Abuja-In a bid to boost its counter insurgency efforts and to increase efficiency, the Nigerian Air Force(NAF) has disclosed that it is reorganising operations in the Northeast and is expecting a total of five (5) combat helicopters to be added to its air asset by the end of February, 2018.
This is even as it announced the replacement of the Air Component Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Air Commodore Tajudeen Yusuf with a new Commander of the Air Task Force, Air Vice Marshal Idi Lubo.
These were disclosed by the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar during his opening remarks on the 4th quarter of CAS Conference for the year 2017 at the NAF headquarters in Abuja.
The Air Chief who gave a breakdown of the air assets, of which some had been deployed to the Northeast, said that one Bell 412 Helicopter had been activated while work on the second would be completed before the end of the month.
He noted that one Mi-35P Helicopter is being reactivated and should be ready for operation by January 2018 ending as the overhauled engines needed for the reactivation had already arrived in Nigeria.
“The reactivation is being done locally to further build the capacity of NAF technical personnel and also save cost. So, foreign technical experts had been invited to execute the project in conjunction with NAF engineers and technicians”, he enthused.
Abubakar also said that two (2) additional Mi-35M helicopters recently procured for the NAF by the Federal Government had been test flown in Russia and should be operational in Nigeria by February 2018.
In terms of progress made so far from the last quarter, the CAS remarked that a number of pilots had completed their training and deployed for operational duties. He added that a female pilot, for the first time in the history of the NAF, will be on her way to the United States Air Force for training as a fighter pilot, having graduated as the overall best pilot during ab-initio training at 401 Flying Training School, Kaduna.
He also announced the reorganisation of the NAF air operations in the Northeast for increased efficiency which includes; the replacement of the Air Component Commander with a Commander Air Task Force, an Air Vice Marshal (2-star General), who reports to the Theatre Commander.
“The NAF has also appointed three Divisional Air Liaison Officers (DALO) for the Nigerian Army’s 3 Armourer Divisions as well as 7 and 8 Divisions in the Northeast. The whole idea is to ensure a better coordination of air efforts with ground operations. The NAF has also appointed an Air Liaison Officer for the Theatre Command to further limit the possibility of gaps in operations”, he said.
In the area of Force Protection, the Air Chief said that the NAF has trained some of its Regiment personnel as additional Special Forces and deployed them to the Northeast for operations alongside other surface forces and has graduated the second set of participants from its Air War College in Makurdi.
The CAS enjoined the senior officers to be frank in their contributions, identify challenges and proffer ways of moving the NAF forward.
The aim of the Conference is to appraise progress made in the NAF since the end of the Third Quarter.
Participants include Branch Chiefs from HQ NAF, AOCs, Commandants of NAF and some tri-Service institutions, all AVMs serving in Abuja, Directors from HQ NAF and NAF Field Commanders from its various bases.
