Tinubu Has Significantly Expanded NAF Fleet – Adesanya

By Lengnan Tobias

A defence expert, retired Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, says President Bola Tinubu’s administration has significantly expanded and modernised the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fleet.

Adesanya, a former NAF Director of Public Relations and Defence Attaché to Moscow, said this in an exclusive interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said available reports showed that the administration had made significant contributions to aircraft acquisition and force development.

“In February 2024, NAF reported the induction of two T-129 ATAK attack helicopters, two Diamond DA-62 surveillance aircraft and a King Air 360ER.

“The Ministry of Defence confirmed this in December 2024, reporting that the administration had facilitated the acquisition of 12 advanced aircraft within the preceding year.

“The aircraft included King Air 360i and DA-62 aircraft, T-129 ATAK and AW-109 helicopters, while M-346FA jets, CASA-295 aircraft and AH-1Z Vipers were in the pipeline,” he said.

Adesanya added that NAF had recently announced the arrival of three AW-109 Trekker B helicopters and two H-125 helicopters, with seven additional AW-109s expected before the end of 2026.

He noted, however, that some acquisitions might have been initiated under previous administrations because of the lengthy nature of defence procurement, with payments possibly made partly or fully under the Tinubu administration.

On areas of improvement, the expert identified Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) as a major area, citing the acquisition of DA-62 aircraft, King Air platforms and newer AW-109 helicopters.

“ISR capability is quite important considering the nature of security challenges facing the nation. You cannot effectively attack what you cannot locate and positively identify,” he said.

He also highlighted the expansion of the air force’s helicopter fleet through the T-129 ATAK, AW-109 and H-125 platforms, alongside the planned AH-1Z Vipers, describing rotary-wing capabilities as particularly important for asymmetric warfare.

According to him, other improvements include combat aircraft, surveillance platforms, light utility helicopters, tactical and medium airlift, armed reconnaissance, ISR systems, training aircraft and associated infrastructure.

Adesanya described the planned acquisition of 24 M-346 fighter and ground-attack aircraft as particularly significant, saying it would provide Nigeria with another modern fixed-wing combat capability.

He said the AH-1Z programme was designed to strengthen close air support, armed escort and precision-strike operations.

The expert noted that the AH-1Z package also included funding for air-ground integration, targeting procedures and training.

“This will enable ground forces to find targets, identify them correctly, communicate the information to aircraft, strike precisely, assess the results and then exploit the effect on the ground,” he said.

On existing gaps, Adesanya said Nigeria needed to move beyond occasional surveillance to persistent intelligence gathering through a layered system involving long-endurance and tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, manned ISR aircraft, satellite imagery, human intelligence and real-time battlefield communications.

He said the objective should be to maintain a continuous intelligence picture of terrorist and bandit movements.

Adesanya also called for greater attention to airborne command, control and battle management, as well as the development of indigenous technological capacity to improve aircraft maintenance, reduce costs and shorten turnaround times.

He further identified tactical airlift as an area requiring investment, noting that the NAF relied heavily on its ageing C-130H fleet.

“NAF’s tactical airlift capability is heavily dependent on its C-130H fleet, which is well over 40 years in service. This needs to be renewed to facilitate the movement of troops, logistics supplies and humanitarian supplies, among others,” he said.