The Nigerian Army has taken delivery of an unspecified number of ex-Jordanian FV-107 Scimitars to improve its firepower against extremists.
The FV-107 Scimitars are part of the second consignment of equipment procured from Jordan.
The FV107 Scimitar is an armoured reconnaissance vehicle, one of the CVR(T) series of vehicles that entered service in 1971. Although sometimes classed as a light tank, it is very similar to the FV101 Scorpion.
Jordan and Nigeria maintains a strong relationship and cooperation. In 2017, the Jordan government pledged to deliver 200 armored vehicles and helicopters to Nigeria.
That same year, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Ambassador to Jordan Mr. Farouk Yabo visited Jordan to improve bilateral relations.
President Buhari was accompanied to the bilateral meeting which was the third of its kind since the inception of the current administration, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Professor Tijjani Bande.
Also, in 2019, Jordanian delegates were in Nigeria, where they had a positive engagement in various sectors including security and defence.
In August 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari in a meeting with State Governors, and attended by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, heads of defence, security and intelligence agencies, and members of the Security Committee of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum represented by one governor from each of the six geo-political zones.
The President informed the Governors of the imminent shipment of military weapons and aircraft from Jordan, China and the United States, but asked for patience on the part of the public because the new weapons and aircraft must be manned by trained fighters and pilots who must first receive appropriate training.
In January this year, Nigeria’s Defence attaché to Egypt Maj Gen Umar Yahaya alongside the Nigerian ambassador to Jordan Ambassador Faruk Yabo visited Jordan Design and Development Bureau (JODDB) in Jordan. The JODDB handles the maintenance and repair of heavy and light armoured vehicles for the Jordanian military.
During the visit, several green-painted FV-107 in a JODDB factory, ready to be delivered were seen in a photograph published via Facebook by Ambassador Faruk Yabo.
JODDB was created to provide capabilities for the supply of scientific and technical services to the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), and also for the supply of defense and commercial equipment.
Jordan obtained over 175 Scimitars in a 2006 deal that netted the British $20 million.
The FV-107 Scimitar is similar to the FV101 Scorpion but mounts a high velocity 30 mm L21 RARDEN cannon instead of a 76 mm cannon, and a 7.62 L37A1 machine gun.
The Nigerian Army already posses at least five FV-107 Scimitars acquired in 1975 along with 140 FV101 Scorpion.
This new acquisition is part of a broader re-equipping of the Army’s armoured corps to better handle violent extremism in the region.
Last year November, the NA acquired sixty new Norinco Type-89 tracked armoured vehicles to boost its ongoing and future offensive in the northeastern region against insurgents.
The armoured fighting vehicles will join several recent acquisitions from China, which includes NORINCO ST1 105 mm Fire Support Vehicle, VT-4 Main Battle Tank, SH-5 105mm self-propelled Artillery System, and SH-2 122mm self-propelled artillery system. These hardware arrived in April last year.
This January, The Nigerian Army overhauled some of its dilapidated T-72 main battle tanks acquired in 2015 during the start of the terror insurgency in the northeast.
At least 25 T-72s have been refitted and readied for combat operations across various theaters, and a subsequent batch will also be repaired and brought to fighting state.
