Military Capabilities
Nigerian Air Force builds up training capabilities
Erwan de Cherisey - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
25 July 2017
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is strengthening its training capabilities to meet the demands of a major expansion that has involved reactivating and procuring fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters in recent years. This has resulted in a need for additional aircrews and prompted the NAF to send officers abroad for flight training while it reassessed its training capabilities.
One of the NAF's new Super Mushshaks is delivered on 14 July. (Nigerian Air Force)
The NAF announced on 11 July that its Training Command had been split into an Air Training Command (ATC), headquartered at Kaduna Air Base, and a Ground Training Command (GTC) based at Enugu Air Base. “The ATC will be responsible for the implementation of policies on flying and air operations, while the GTC will be responsible for the implementation of local ground training,” the NAF statement said.
The Kaduna-based 401 Flying Training School (FTS) now has PAC Super Mushshak basic training aircraft, four of which arrived in December 2016. After basic training, pilots transition to L-39 jets for advanced training or to other types such as the Dornier 228 for multi-engine conversion.
When the NAF announced on 14 July that another five Super Mushshaks had arrived, it said the four existing ones had been loaned by Pakistan to allow pilot training to move ahead while the 10 aircraft ordered by Nigeria were being manufactured. It is unclear if the loaned aircraft will be returned after the remaining five are delivered.
The NAF said in April 2016 the new Super Mushshaks would replace an existing fleet of Diamond DA-40s that were too few in number and unsuitable for training pilots due to their inability to perform aerobatics. However, three DA-40s with NAF registrations were seen during the NAF Day celebrations on 22 April.