Thread by @DefenseNigeria

In August 2015 President Buhari said Nigeria's continual reliance on other countries for military equipment has become "unacceptable" and ordered the Defense Ministry to create a "modest military industrial complex for the local production of weapons.

Here are some of the best defence products that has come out of Nigeria since the 2015 Presidential Directive.

NNS OJI SDB III. The third and latest iteration of the Seaward Defence Boat class of vessels built for the Nigerian Navy by engineers at the Naval Dockyard in Lagos.

Proforce ARA II (Thunder). This world class MRAP has the capacity to carry up to 12 personnel and features a 12.7 mm machinegun mounted on a 360 degree roof turret which can be open or fully enclosed.

The ARA II has the honour of being Nigeria's first ever defence export.

Ezeagwu MRAP courtesy Nigerian Army Vehicle Manufacturing Company. It carries a crew of 12 : commander, driver, two gunners and eight soldiers.

TSAIGUMI UAV courtesy 431 Engineering Group, Nigerian Air Force.

"Tsaigumi" means surveillance in Hausa. It is a twin-boom UAV spotting a pusher propeller configuration. It is fitted with an Electro-Optical Forward Looking Infra-red System (EO FLIR).

Vulcar 2 105mm Self Propelled Howitzer. Courtesy Nigerian army Artillery Corp.

PF Viper Fast Attack Infantry Assault Vehicle IAV. Courtesy Proforce Nigeria.

This world class fast moving, lightweight, and multi-terrain vehicle has remarkable ballistic protection as well as a modular design adaptable to various missions.

Proforce ARA II (Export model) modified version for the Chadian army. South Africa's loss was Nigeria's gain when Proforce netted a deal to supply 40 MRAPs to Chad after South Africa’s Denel failed to supply 40 Military Vehicles to Chad in an order signed in 2017.

The Chadian Government paid R100 Million as a down payment for these vehicles. The total cost was between R230 Million and R250 Million.

Ezegwu MRAP 2019 iteration. its hull can withstand a 7 kg TNT explosion whilst each wheel can withstand a 12 kg TNT explosion. Unusually, the vehicle has two weapons turrets which can traverse 360 degrees and a telescopic long range camera for improved situational awareness.

Latest iteration of Ezegwu Mrap unveiled at the 2021 Chief of Army Staff Conference in Abuja.

Nigeria's growing military industrial base now delivers many of Nigeria's largest and most complex defence projects, supported by huge investments in workforce skills development. Here are defence project currently in the pipeline.

SDB 4 and 5.

Here we see President Buhari signing to lay the keel for the commencement of the construction of SDB IV and SDB V while commissioning the new indigenously built NNS OJi.

Commot for Road Guided Missile. The Nigerian army rocket research project is developing two classes of ground to ground guided missiles in the long, short and intermediate range configuration.

Agency Assemble Integration & Testing (AIT) for the development of indigenous satellites and robotics.