Nigeria's plans to acquire three CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder multirole fighters in 2016, Nigeria's Punch newspaper reported on 6 January.
Citing a leaked copy of the budget, Punch reported that NGN5 billion (USD25 million) has been allocated for the acquisition of the three JF-17s, NGN2.06 billion for 10 PAC Super Mushshak basic trainers, and NGN11.6 for two Mi-35M helicopters.
Kamra-based Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) is staying tight-lipped on the identity of the first international customer for its JF-17 Thunder fighter, but says marketing efforts for the single-engined type are going well.
“The contract is already signed, but we will leave it to the customer to announce it first,” says Air Marshal Javaid Ahmed. “There is a lot of interest in developing countries. I think almost all developing countries are keen to have a look at the JF-17.”
The wreckage of an armed drone appeared in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday near the heart of the West African country’s fight against a violent Islamist insurgency, raising questions about the extent of global drone proliferation.
Pictures of the wreckage posted on Twitter show an unmanned combat aerial vehicle that closely resembles the CH-3 drone made by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Missiles connected to two hardpoints and a sensor payload are visible in the images.
Reports place the crash near the village of Dumge in Nigeria’s northeast Borno state.
Nigeria has discontinued prematurely a US programme to train one of its army battalions without providing an explanation.
"We regret premature termination of this training, as it was to be the first in a larger planned project that would have trained additional units with the goal of helping the Nigerian Army build capacity to counter Boko Haram," a US State Department spokesman told the Military Times on 1 December.
The unit was not identified, but the US had previously said it was helping the Nigerian Army to establish a Rangers battalion for counter-insurgency operations against the militant group Boko Haram.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is close to finalising an order for the purchase of one or two squadrons of the JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft co-produced by Pakistan and China, a senior Pakistani Ministry of Defence official told IHS Jane's on 2 December.
Speaking at the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) 2014 in Karachi, the official said the NAF finalised its recommendation for the purchase of 25-40 JF-17s after NAF chief air marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu visited Pakistan in October. AM Amosu's engagements in Pakistan included a visit to the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) at Kamra, north of Islamabad, where the JF-17 is manufactured.
Nigeria's air force has expressed an interest in acquiring the Textron AirLand Scorpion strike and surveillance aircraft in order to counter the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the country.
The service currently operates both dedicated strike and surveillance types – the Chengdu F-7Ni and ATR 42, respectively – but believes that a low-cost aircraft with a dual capability would enable quicker and more precise counter-insurgency operations.
“In my country, we want and need this,” AVM RA Ojuawo, director of operations representing CAS, Nigerian air force headquarters, told the International Fighter conference in London on 18 November. “We want this equipment, but are they going to give it to us?”
Ojuawo says Abuja will soon put in a request to the US government for the sale of up to a squadron’s worth of aircraft. However, it worries that approval may not be granted, based on the previous rejection of its appeal for Bell Helicopters AH-1 Cobra rotorcraft.
