NAF Training Over 1,400 Personnel, Acquiring New Platforms For Future Air Combat – Air Chief

By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, has stated that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is in the process of training 1,467 personnel both locally and internationally as it acquires more platforms for air combat.

According to him, the “significant gains” being made by the NAF towards domestic manufacturing of required air capabilities through research and development activities are to address the present and future air combat needs.

AM Abubakar said this on Thursday during a lecture titled ‘The Future of Air Warfare in the Nigerian Air Force – My Command Philosophy,’ which he delivered to participants of Senior Course 46 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji in Kaduna State.

A total of 258 middle-level military officers drawn from the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as officers from some allied countries, are undergoing an 11-month operation leadership course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji in Kaduna State.

This is reported to prepare them for the task ahead as middle-level commanders, especially in line with the command philosophy of the Chief of Air Staff.

AM Abubakar said the complex nature of contemporary and emerging security challenges in the country would require that the future air warfare of the NAF must revolve around intelligence gathering, surveillance, rapid mobility, precision attack, and use of unarmed aircraft.

The air chief added that this is due to the resultant effects of climate change, technological proliferation, separatism and terrorism.

He further stressed the importance of joint operations among the services and engaging in strategic alliances with other countries to ensure the country’s security.

Relating the significance of his command philosophy to the involvement of the NAF in future warfare against banditry and other technologically driven security threats, AM Abubakar reeled out the key enablers of his philosophy and how they would impact the operations of the service.

For his part, the Commandant of the Armed Forces College, AVM Hassan Alhaji, believes the senior lecture is significant in the career progression of the participants.

The air chief gave an assurance that the country would overcome its security challenges if the security services would take the issue of jointness seriously and engage in strategic alliances with other countries which are critical in achieving the objectives of ensuring the country’s security.