Hassan Abubakar, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), has announced that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) will soon receive 18 attack helicopters to expand its aircraft fleet.
This was said by Mr. Abubakar on Wednesday during a daylong tour of the NAF 115 Special Operations Group’s (SOG) formations and units in Port Harcourt.
He said the United States would supply 12 attack helicopters while the Turkish government would provide another six helicopters in September.
“We are not deterred by recent developments as the federal government has approved the acquisition of 12 AH1 Zulu Cobra and six T129 Helicopters from the United States and Turkey, respectively.
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“The first two T129 helicopters are scheduled to come into operation by September to enhance our operational capabilities.
“So, yes, we are saddened by the recent loss of our airplane (MI 171 helicopter), but then, we have a lot more (aircraft) coming in, and our capabilities are increasing,” he said.
Mr Abubakar said he visited the state to commiserate with families of the NAF pilots and crew that died in the ill-fated helicopter crash in Niger on Aug. 14.
“So, we came here to express our deepest condolences to the immediate family members of the crew that we lost.
“The 115 special operations group is the home base for the airplane and all the crew that were onboard the unfortunate crash of our MI-171 helicopter.
“Aside this, we are also here to interact with the officers and men of the unit to encourage and assure them of our support in Operation Delta Safe,” he added.
The Air Force chief said the deceased crew onboard the crashed aircraft included the pilot, co-pilot and two airmen – who oversaw the cabin.
He said the Air Force was currently putting measures in place to put an end to crashes of military aircraft in the country.
According to him, the measures included setting up an air crash investigation board to detect the probable causes of the crash to mitigate future recurrence.
“NAF has a target innovation of zero accidents, but the truth is that as long as we keep operating, there will be incidents because it is human beings that operate the aircraft.
“We have also established and empowered our NAF Institute of Safety – where we train our pilots and technicians in the fundamentals of safety to improve safety culture in the Air Force.
“The overall aim is that in the nearest future, we will have a well-engraved safety culture in the realisation of our target of zero accidents and incidents in NAF,” he said.
Mr Abubakar said the air force would continue to intensify the deployment of its attack helicopters in clamping down on illegal refineries in the Niger Delta.
He said that joint operations with sister security agencies had led to the destruction of several illegal refining sites and the confiscation of vessels used in stealing crude oil from the region.
IN
