The Presidency on Thursday disclosed that six of the 12 Super Tucanos purchased by the nation would arrive Nigeria mid-July 2021.
The presidency added that 14 pilots were currently on training at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu disclosed this in series of tweets on his twitter handle.
“Six of the twelve 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,” he said.
He said the Super Tucanos came off the production line in Jacksonville Florida and were now being equipped and flight tested.
“Nigerian pilots and maintenance personnel are training on these planes. Currently, the construction is ongoing, which will house the aircraft.
“The Air-Ground-Integration school is the training hub on targeting and minimization of civilian casualties,” Shehu explained.
He added that at present, five Nigerian Super Tucanos were at Moody AFB in Georgia for pilot and maintainer training.
Garba stated that the two companies released images of the sixth aircraft, which also would be flown to Moody, in a jungle camouflage scheme.
“The painted jungle scheme NAF A-29 now moves on to mission modification at Moody Air Force Base, Following modification, before delivery, NAF pilots and maintenance personnel will further train in the aircraft,” he said
In November 2018, SNC was awarded a $329 million Foreign Military Sales contract from the US government to build 12 A-29s for the Nigerian air force. The armed turboprops are intended for use against Boko Haram and Islamic State militants.
