THE Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has announced plans to further boost its counter-terrorism capabilities by procuring 50 new military aircraft, which includes 12 new AW-109 multi-purpose helicopters from AgustaWestland now (Leonardo.)
The AgustaWestland AW109 is a lightweight, twin-engine, eight-seat multi-purpose helicopter built by the Italian manufacturer Leonardo S.p.A. (formerly AgustaWestland, merged into the new Finmeccanica since 2016).
Speaking at the opening of two new aircraft hangars in northwestern Nigeria, Chief of the Air Staff Hassan Bala Abubakar said the country will acquire 12 AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters and a dozen more AW109 multi-purpose helicopters to replace the existing acquisition of a single AW-139 helicopter.
Incidentally, Nigeria already fields various variants of the AW-109 helicopter, up to 15 units of the A109E/LUH (Light Utility Helicopter), and two Trekker variant from Leonardo used for combat operations against militants in northeast Nigeria, as well as for tactical training of future NAF helicopter pilots.
In 2018, the Nigerian Air Force placed an order for six Leonardo AW109 helicopters, referred to as the AW109 Powers -the AW109M is the militarized version of the AW109E that can be armed with heavy machine gun pods and 70 mm rocket launchers. Two AW109 helicopter was procured in 2020, but several of the type has been lost to crashes; one in July 2017 in Borno state, one on November 2019 in Enugu, and another one in June 2019 in Kastina.
Moving on, the NAF will also place an order for 24 M-346 light fighter-trainer aircraft from Leonardo and two C-295 medium tactical transport aircraft manufactured by Airbus. Talks between officials of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Italian officials have reached an advanced stage for the procurement and delivery of 24 Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master light combat aircraft, worth an estimated €1.2 billion.
Abubakar explained that the new planes will be used to bolster military offensives against jihadist groups and armed gangs that have been terrorizing Nigeria’s northwest and central states.
Deliveries of the new aircraft are expected to begin next year.
