The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oludayo Amao, has said that the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) now has a total of 38 new aircraft following the latest addition 12 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft.
The new equipment were recently inducted into the NAF order of battle recently.
Amao disclosed this in the current edition of NAF in-house magazine, Airman.
The air force chief said some of the aircraft had been deployed to tackle insecurity in some parts of the country while others were being used to upscale its pilots’ training.
“Prior to the coming on board of the President Muhammadu Buhari (retd)-led administration in 2015, the NAF was in the pitiable state owing to neglect as most of its platforms were grounded or in states of disrepair.
“The NAF can now boast of 38 brand new aircraft to tackle various security challenges and upscale its pilots training. The latest addition to the list is the A-29 Super Tucano aircraft which were recently inducted into the NAF order of Battle.
“The acquisitions and reactivation, as well as the emplacement of a robust logistics support structure, have enabled the NAF to raise the serviceability status from about 35 per cent in 2015 to about 72 per cent as of September 2021.”
He also disclosed that 173 pilots have been trained in the last six years with additional 155 student pilots undergoing training.
Amao, however, said the NAF introduced 11 new doctrines to guide its operations.
The doctrines are based on analysis of the contemporary security environment as well as operational experiences, adding that competencies in the Air Force are now being guided by the doctrines.
He assured Nigerians that NAF was working in partnership with the security agencies to sustain its air operations against all criminal elements in the country.
