The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has lauded the management of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) Company for providing the needed technical support that has enabled the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to sustain its Counter-Terrorism and Counter-Insurgency operations against the Boko Haram terrorists.
Abubakar stated this on Wednesday while receiving the Chairman of IVMC, Mr. Innocent Chukwuma and team members in his office in Abuja, where he expressed the willingness by the NAF to expand the scope of existing research and development collaboration with the company.
He said at a time when the NAF would have been forced to ground its entire fleet of Alpha jets due to lack of a brake assembly plant, the company had helped to locally modify and overhaul the brake system of the MB-339 aircraft for adoption on the Alpha jets.
According to the CAS, this ingenious effort by IVM was instrumental to the continued operation of the Alpha jets, and had helped to save the day when help was not forthcoming from abroad.
Abubakar stated that the contribution by IVM deserves national recognition and award, given the important role played by the Alpha Jet in the ongoing counter insurgency operations in North East Nigeria.
He said that the collaboration between the NAF and IVM was in line with one of the key drivers of his vision, which is “strategic partnership with ministries, departments and agencies for enhanced research and development”. – Thisday.
