Nigerian Military Loses N12.16bn Hardware, Valiant Personnel In Five Months
The tragic plane crash that killed Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru Friday evening makes it three in the first half of the year, robbing the nation of over 20 valiant personnel and over N12,168,750,000 or $29.5 million in military hardware.
The death of Attahiru has also brought to four, Nigerian service chiefs ( Three serving and one former) that have died in air crashes. The three others are Chief of Army Staff, Joseph Akahan (May 1968), Chief of Air Staff Shittu Alao (October 15, 1969, at Uzebba, near Benin) and Chief of Defence Staff, Andrew Azazi who died in the air mishap of December 15, 2012, in Bayelsa.
Retired Captain Paul Nwachukwu blamed the inexperience of the pilots and the bad weather for the crashes, urging the military to deepen training for the handlers of its aircraft.
Nwachukwu who was the pilot to former Military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida stated that “Many of the pilots that we have now don’t have enough experience for the flights and trips they are handling.
“We are entering the rainy season that is always with very rough and bad weather like that of the Friday when the military aircraft crashed. A good and experienced pilot, not minding the capability of a military aircraft to manoeuvre through bad weather, would have waited for the weather to get better before flying”.
He said they could have gotten airborne to impress or as a show off to the Chief of Army Staff when they knew the weather was quite bad for flying.
.
In January 2021, the Federal Government had earmarked N675bn for procurement of arms and ammunition to prosecute the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency, of which the procurement of arms and equipment and training of 8,000 soldiers were included.
The over a decade long insurgency has claimed over 36,000 lives with property worth $9.2 billion (about N3.42 trillion) in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.
All these were done with a view to improving the security situation of the country by mid-2021, according to the presidency.
In a breakdown of the N675 billion military budget, N500 billion was to procure arms and ammunition, operational fighting equipment.
The serial crashes of the military aircraft have raised questions on the military equipment procured for the nation’s defence sector.
Insidebusiness.NG checks reveal, however, that the Military’s King Air 350i that crashed on February 22, 2021, cost $8 Million (N3.3 billion) currently with a yearly maintenance cost of $915,423 (N377.6 million).
The King Air is an icon, since the first that came out of the production line in 1964. It is economical to operate, durable and rugged. Just like a sport utility, it can be equipped with luxury fittings to complement its more adventurous side.
Over 7,000 King Airs have been sold since it was first rolled out, and its good support network has endeared to private individuals, companies and governments across 105 countries. In addition to their business use, the aircraft has been employed as air ambulances, as trainers, in the military and for surveillance among other tasks.
The King Air 350i is a twin-turboprop aircraft, produced by Beechcraft, which is now part of Textron aviation (also the parent company of Cessna).
The other aircraft in the family include the smaller King Air 250, the King Air C90GTx and an extended range King Air 350ER.
The price of a new King Air 350i is currently about $8m (N3.3 billion) but a 6 or 7-year-old one, built in 2009 to 2011, will cost in the region of $4m (N1.65 billion) to $4.5m (N1.85 billion) and models that are 15 to 16 years old. Findings show that only 480 have been built to date.
The 1999 to 2001 vintage, are typically in the range of $2m to $2.5m and prices on second-hand ones vary, depending on the level of use, maintenance, record keeping and upkeep.
In the Nigerian context, one cannot rule out the possibility that they were bought second hand.
By April 2017, sales of the King Air series dropped with just 12 examples delivered in the first quarter of the year, lower than 26 in the same period of 2016. Owing to weak demand for the design, the sale ebbed in 2017 from a total of 106 sold in 2016.
By December 2020, nearly 7,600 King Air have been delivered, as the fleet surpassed 62 million flight hours in 56 years.
Similarly, in March 2021, a Nigerian Air Force Alpha Jet supporting ground troops fighting Boko Haram terrorists in the North East city of Borno went missing. It was eventually discovered to have crashed at Abba-Jille in Konduga LGA of Borno State.
In actual geographical terms, the crash location was approximately 30Kms outside Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Two fighter pilots lost their lives in that incident and the cost of the Alpha Jet was $15 million (N6,187,500,000).
The Alpha jets series was a combined France-Germany initiative to create an innovative tactical trainer aircraft with close-air support warfare abilities, that was planned to succeed the Fouga Magister, a 1950s French two-seat jet trainer aircraft, developed and manufactured by French aircraft manufacturer Fouga.
Alpha jets were also to replace the Lockheed T-33, a subsonic American jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. These older jet models were fuel-inefficient and expensive to maintain.
The French company Dassault-Breguet generated the first evaluation. It was designed under the classification of “TA501″. This combined the features of two earlier German and French proposals. It produced between 1973 and 1991 which makes it old and obsolete.
In 2013, Nigeria began taking steps to bring its Alpha Jet fleet back into service, upgrading 13 of the original 24 into serviceable condition, due to an urgent need for strike aircraft to participate in air support missions for counter insurgency operations against Boko Haram.
In March 2016, Nigerian car manufacturer Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) signed a supply agreement with the Nigerian Air Force to produce components and various spare parts for the Alpha Jet.
Also In 2015, Nigeria ordered four additional aircraft from the United States; these aircraft had been de-militarized and prepared for civilian operations, however, Nigeria had reportedly returned two of these to an unspecified armed configuration by early 2016.
The restored Alpha Jet force has been routinely employed in combat air patrols and has conducted multiple airstrikes against Boko Haram militants over a number of years.
Sadly, the recent aircraft lost by Nigerian Armed Forces is the Beechcraft King Air 350i in which the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Ibrahim Attahiru lost his life along with 10 others. Its current value is placed at $6.5million (N2,681,250,000).
It is the largest and most advanced variant in a long line of twin-engine turboprops. Introduced in 2009, the 350i received avionics and interior upgrades over the B300 “Super King Air”. The King Air 350i is an efficient alternative to light jets and VLJ’s, offering operators exceptional field performance.
The King Air 350i is favoured among charter operators and fractional ownership programs, and its corporate configured cabin accommodates up to 9 passengers including an aft belted lavatory. Aeromedical operators can order the aircraft with an aft cargo door known as a 350iC allowing the ingress and egress of up to 2 stretchers.
In October 2008, Beechcraft announced updated versions of the B300 series, the King Air 350i, with improvements to the passenger cabin.
The manufacturer claims that the noise level and overall comfort of the King Air 350i, 350iER, 350iC and 350iCER are now competitive with those of light jets.
The cabin of the B300 series has been updated with controllers in the passenger seat armrests that dim the LED lights, darken the windows and control an iPod dock and a high-definition video monitor.
The cabin also includes Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, AC electrical receptacles and fold-out tables for each passenger in the eight seats fitted. Deliveries commenced in December 2009.
The cabin sound level is reduced by 4 dB to 78-dB due to better insulation. More than 440 of the 350i series have been delivered in less than ten years.
On a one-hour trip, it is 10-15 min slower than a jet while burning 700–900 lb (320–410 kg) less fuel. It cruises at 292 km (541 km/h) TAS at FL350 while burning 503 lb (228 kg) per hour, and can reach 312 kn (578 km/h) TAS at FL240.
The $1.8 million Blackhawk PT6A-67A upgrade offers a 68 km (126 km/h) TAS faster cruise and up to 60% shorter time to climb.
Direct operating costs are around $1,300-1,500 (N536,250-N618,750) per hour, including a 900 lb (410 kg) average fuel flow per hour.
At 3,600 hour, the first pair of engine overhauls cost between $500,000 and $550,000 (N206.250 million -N226,875,000), but second overhauls can cost $800,000-1.2 million (N330,000,000-N495,000,000).
By September 2019, second-hand aircraft were priced between $3 million (N1,237,500,000) for early models to more than $4 million (N1,650,000,000 for late models.
Comments are closed.