The presidency said the expected arrival of six Super Tucano light attack aircraft from the United States (U.S.) mid-July.
Already, Nigerian Air Force (NAF) 14 personnel are in Georgia, U.S. for training on how to deploy the jets,according to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu
He said another batch of six fighter aircraft would be delivered shortly after the mid-July date of the first batch.
He said:“Test flight operations for @NigAirForce newly acquired Super Tucano combat aircraft.Six of the 12 Super Tucanos are on track to arrive in mid-July 2021. With the remaining six shortly after that. There are 14 Nigerian pilots currently training at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.”
SNC and Embraer Defense & Security received a contract from NAF in December 2018 to deliver the 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft.
The contract included ground training devices, mission planning systems, ground equipment, spares, and other related support.
The A-29 Super Tucano will support flight and combat training, close air support operations, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), armed over-watch, counterinsurgency and irregular warfare scenarios.