General Jeffrey Harrigian of the United States Africa Command says the arrival of the A-29 Super Tucanos to Nigeria is an opportunity to broaden areas of cooperation between Nigeria and the United States in a bid to contain the insecurity in Nigeria.
The Commander, United States Air Forces in Europe and Africa, stated this at the all media roundtable on the U.S-Nigeria military partnership, organised by the U.S Embassy, on Monday in Abuja.
What General Jeffrey Harrigian said
Harrigian said that the acquisition of the fighter aircraft for the Nigerian military had brought in a multitude of capabilities that would help in tackling the prevailing instability in Nigeria.
He said, “Importantly, the platform itself brings a multitude of capabilities and this is not just about weapons, it is about intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, it is about that operability that it provides between the air component and the ground component.
“And so, it broadens the shared understanding of the force to be able to operate in these different domains.
“And, we see this as a great opportunity to work together in these different areas to deepen our partnership look for future opportunities, whether it be training, whether it be intelligence because part of what we offer and what we are going to work together is really the full package.
“And, when we talk about the maintenance of an aircraft, when we talk about the tactics techniques and procedures that the pilots use those are all things we are going to continue to refine together with the Nigerian Air Force.”
He added that the arrival of the aircraft is an opportunity to broaden those areas where “we have these shared values and areas that we’re going to work together to ultimately work to improve the security instability and work in partnership with all the things that the embassy does.”
He stated that the induction of A-29 Super Tucano into Nigerian operation would be an opportunity to recommit to the partnership between the U.S Air Force and NAF and praised personnel of the Nigerian Air Force for exhibiting high level of competence and professionalism during their training.
What you should know
Recall Nairametrics reported last month that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) announced that the first batch of the twelve A-29 Super Tucanos ordered by the FG had arrived, as six Tucanos arrived in Nigeria from the United States.