When you take an in-depth look at the JF-17s radar, you realize how fiscally irresponsible it will be for the NAF to buy just 3 JF-17 fighters.
To fully maximize the capability of the fighter jet the NAF needs at least a Squadron level operational capability of the JF-17.
The JF-17 is equiped with the KLJ-7 radar. This radar can detect up to 40 air, ground and sea targets. It can track 10 targets and send two missiles simultaneously. It can detect a target with a radar cross section of 5 sqm at a range of 105km.
This radar is useful against enemy aircraft and of little relevance against Boko Haram/ISWAP.
Sure it has look down radar and can drop bombs...so can the Super Tucano or Alpha jet. Nigeria is not lacking in the air to ground department.
Where Nigeria is dangerously exposed is in the long neglected Air Defence domain. Air defense, as its name implies, is the act of safeguarding a nation against threats from the air.
When you hear the term " Air Defence" the first thing that comes to mind are SAMS.
But not all militaries approach air defense with a similar mindset. Countries like Nigeria, or the U.S rely extensively on fighter interceptors like the F-22 and F-16 for strategic air defence more so than ground based SAMs.
Here we see American F-22 Raptors intercepting Russian bombers near Alaska.
Yes they have the Avengers low level air defence system, or in Nigeria's case ROLAND short range air defence system, both countries rely extensively on fighter interceptors, far more effective than ground based systems because of its flexibility and range.
Problem is Nigeria is seriously lacking in this area. In the 1980s about 22 MiG-21 Fishbeds and 18 Sepecat Jaguars provided strategic air defence for Nigeria. Thats over three Squadrons of twin and single engined high performance fighter interceptors.
Today we have barely a Squadron of the F-7Ni "Airguard" for strategic air defence. The JF-17 is a perfect platform to plug that capability gap because of its multi-role capability. Three JF-17s just doesn't cut it. The JF-17 was not built with counter insurgency in mind.
We have a platform with air to air, air to ground and anti-ship capability. Its long range radar detect enemy aircraft over 100km away. Throw in BVR missiles.
So we aquire a 4.5 Gen fighter/interceptor with modern avionics, long radars and BVR missiles,..but aquire them
in numbers that completely negates, or render them almost useless in the face of enemy air attack from a near peer adversary. Sophisticated enough to get the job done. But too few in numbers to make any meaningful impact in defending Nigeria against a hostile actor from the sky.
No country has won a war in the face of enemy air superiority, no major offensive has succeeded against an opponent who controlled the air, and no defense has sustained itself against an enemy who had air superiority..
Attaining air superiority has consistently been a prelude to military victory. This is also true in the war against terror. Air Power helped turn the tide of the war in Nigeria's favour. Air Power is the only aspect of the Nigerian military that terrifies insurgents.
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I’m thrilled to announce DNN is making a big leap into the future with a soon to be launched DefenseNigeria Podcast. The podcast will take an in depth look at subjects involving the Nigerian armed forces, defence intelligence, weapons system, geopolitics and everything inbetween
..as it affects Nigeria, and Africa at large through interviews with insiders, experts, military personnel and daily news updates....the works.
Its getting hyper toxic on Twitter with hatred and threats and saboteuring, its really hard to know who to trust these days.
With partisan hacks and special interest groups out there proliferating malicious narratives on an industrial scale, the Defense Nigeria Pro Nigeria movement should not be limited to one fragile social media platform where so many people want you dead. We need to up our game.
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.
Journalism, the once noble profession is DEAD in Nigeria. Reporters aspiring for recognition now choose to write about Nigeria's war on terror. They do this because "national security" is a niche area of expertise and the vast majority of Nigerians have no understanding of the
intricacies of counter insurgency. Reporters take advangage of this fact by writing inaccurate stories knowing they will get away with it because the average Nigerian couldnt tell the difference between factual and inaccurate stories. The Editor of PR Nigeria is advocating for
foreign military cooperation because:
QUOTE
The support foreign nations like the U.S and UK have being providing to Nigeria has helped to restore sanity in many local governments and towns, hitherto under the stranglehold of terrorists, in the North East.
China is building a multi-purpose naval base in Equatorial Guinea, a move that could jeopardise U.S military ambitions on the Atlantic Ocean. This base will be to to rearm and repair Chinese warships.
China had already built a deep water commercial port in Bata, the biggest city in Equitorial Guinea. China is making a strategic mistake. Its too far away from China and doesn’t even sit along China’s major maritime routes and even its oil.
Beijing is attempting to gain a permanent strategic military base on the Atlantic that threatens the US military posture in West Africa. It could allow the Chinese military to eventually project into both the Atlantic and potentially even get close to America’s shores..
How long will it take for an air launched missile that has a maximum velocity of 950mph and to hit a target 11 kilometres away?
The arrival of the JF-17 Thunder and subsequently A-29 Super Tucano brought a unique kind of challenge that Boko Haram/ISWAP has not confronted since the insurgency began..a challenge that is existential in nature.
STANDOFF ATTACK CAPABILITY
Standoff precision strike is the ability to attack targets from distances far beyond visual and audio range. Paired with an effective strategy aimed at high value targets, long range precision is one of the most effective tool available to NAF theatre commanders.