Before the end of the first quarter of 2023, 3 Chinese-made Wing Loong UCAV and 6 T129 ATAK helicopters will reach Nigeria.
3 Wing Loong Armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and 6 T129 ATAK helicopters ordered within the scope of the needs of the Nigerian Air Force will be delivered in the first quarter of 2023. Chief of the Nigerian Air Force, Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao, said in a statement:
“More needs to be done to completely destroy and clean up the terrorists’ remains. The Nigerian Armed Forces is going through a major modernization program and all these recent acquisitions are part of that program. Your new and modern air force will carry out successful bombing operations against terrorists and insurgents. We expect that the 2 Beechcraft King Air 360, 4 Diamond DA-62 surveillance aircraft, 3 Wing Loong II UCAV and 6 T-129 ATAK helicopters that we have ordered will arrive in Nigeria in the quarter of this year.”
Isiaka Oladayo Amao also stated that the negotiations for 12 Italian-made AW109 Trekker utility helicopters and 24 Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master light attack aircraft continue.
Nigeria approved the 2023 additional budget for the T129 Atak helicopter
In the 2023 budget proposal submitted by Nigerian President Buhari in October 2022, it was decided to make an additional payment for 6 T129 ATAK helicopters to be purchased within the scope of the needs of the Nigerian Air Force. Within the scope of the needs of the Nigerian Air Force, the T129 ATAK helicopter, Italian-made Agusta Westland AW109 utility helicopter, Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master light attack aircraft and Russian-made Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter are also supplied.
The Defense Industry Cooperation Agreement signed between Turkey and Nigeria in October 2021 was signed during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Nigeria. According to the agreement, Turkey will export 6 T129 ATAK helicopters to Nigeria. In a statement to the press in October 2022, TAI General Manager Prof. Dr. Temel Kotil said that after the Philippines, T129 ATAK attack helicopters will be exported to Nigeria soon.
