Thread by @DefenseNigeria

Someone asked why most of the latest generation of equipments recently procured by the army can be traced to one Chinese arms manufaturer "Norincho". Why not diversify he said.

Well, diversity for one has done more harm than good.

There used to be a time in this country when weapons were procured without taking maintenance into considerations, resulting in various equipment from different manufacturers. The result of all these uncoordinated procurement left half the armys equipment unservicable.

This was compounded by the lack of adequate spares and trained technicians, making maintenance of equipment difficult. At the end of the day most of these equipments finally ended up in a junk yard.

Lets take our army for instance.

A Nigerian army amoured brigade has two tank battalions and one reconnaisance battalion. There is an amoury workshop assigned to support the brigade for maintenance. The amoured brigade is equipped with T-72s, Vicker, T-55s, AMX-30 MBTs and Scorpion light tanks.

The worship needs to stock its stores with spare parts to support 4 different types of tanks performing the same roles...and of course they will need different tools and test equipment to support each of the vehicles. The workshop will also require different sets of technicians

with each set specialising on each of the tanks. Ordnance personnel will also have to contend with the problem of providing seperate storage for different sets of spares...and by the way, the crew of one tank cannot be moved into a different tank because they

are not used to the mechanisms of the other MBTs.

If however the army decides to adopt the Vickers as the only tank it operates this problem would be reduced as all the technicians would focus on repairs of only one type of tank using only one set of repair and test equipment.

Also a driver can easily take over a spare tank in battle if the original driver becomes a casualty. The efficiency of the brigade will then be enhanced. Take the Americans for example. Everything is structured to maximize output and reduce complexities. Russia has 12,000 tanks

..twice as many as the U.S, but Russia's tank fleet is a mix of T-55s, T-72B, T-72M, T-80s,...2nd and 3rd generation tanks with varying capabilities. Yes they have the T-14 Armata, but in very small numbers.

The U.S has a a fleet of 8,000 Main Battle Tanks. Unlike China and Russia that operates a variety of tanks, the U.S has only one type of Tank in its inventory, the M1 Abrams, all 3rd generation. The range, accuracy, and ease of maintenance greatly outweigh sheer numbers.

So the Nigerian army's new generation of Main Battle Tanks, Tank Destroyers, infantry fighting vehicles all coming from Norincho is due to the army's decision to standardize its equipment for ease of maintenance and improved combat efficiency.