Nigerian Air Force (NAF) today, 14 January 2018, took delivery of the
second batch of Super Mushshak trainer aircraft that the Federal
Government had since ordered from Pakistan. The Ilyushin 76 Strategic
Airlifter aircraft that brought the new Super Mushshak aircraft touched
down at NAF Base Kaduna at exactly 7.45 am on Sunday. The Chief of Logistics
at NAF Headquarters, Air Vice Marshal Bello Garba, received the new
aircraft on behalf of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique
Abubakar. A combined team of NAF and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) personnel
were also on hand to assist in offloading the new aircraft, some parts
of which came in crates. In addition, officials of the National Customs
Service and the National Immigration Service were present to ensure
necessary documentation. The newly delivered aircraft, which are capable
of being used for acrobatics training, are all brand new and fitted
with digital glass cockpit.
The newly received aircraft, five in
number, form the final batch of a total of 10 Super Mushshak aircraft,
the procurement of which the current Federal Government Administration
initiated in Year 2016. As at 2015, local primary flying training in the
NAF was almost grounded thereby necessitating the procurement of the
Super Mushshak Aircraft. Consequently, with the delivery of the new
Super Mushshak aircraft, primary flying training of NAF pilots at 401
Flying Training School (FTS), Kaduna has just received a boost. Without
doubts, the delivery of the aircraft would go a long way in helping to
sustain the process of building capacity to effectively prosecute the
counterinsurgency operations in the North East as well as other forms of
criminalities in the country.
It would be recalled that the NAF
took delivery of the first batch of 5 brand new Super Mushshak Aircraft
on 14 July 2017, following which the aircraft were inducted and deployed
for primary training of NAF pilots. Furthermore, some NAF personnel had
undergone training in Pakistan, as Instructor Pilots and technicians on
the Super Mushshak aircraft, as part of the contract. The delivery went
without any hitches and the Ilyushin 76 Aircraft has departed from
Nigeria. The newly received aircraft will now be assembled in Nigeria by
a team of PAF and NAF technicians prior to test flying and formal
induction into the NAF.