In the early stages of the insurgency the Nigerian army adopted a conventional war strategy against Boko Haram. The army's goal was to bring Boko Haram to the conventional battle in which they will be destroyed by conventional firepower, in which the Nigerian army excells at.
At this time Boko Haram was the deadliest terrorist group in the world and the second largest, with an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 fighters armed with anti-tank weapons.
In one incident Nigerian troops engaged Boko Haram in a gun duel that lasted 12 hours.
As the fighting rages troops at the front are soon in need of supplies and support. A Tank battalion is called in. The tanks were to provide security for a convoy of supply vehicles that was loaded with food rations, munitions, media kits etc for delivery to troops at the front.
This is where the commander continues the army's age old tradition of having Main Battle Tanks operating independently.
In keeping with tradition, the convoy heads off without infantry support.
By itself a tank is vulnerable in guerrilla operations, as a tank driver cant see very much. To make the tank less vulnerable they should be protected by infantry.
Infantry support can deter an enemy from getting too close to the tank. A Tank is relatively blind. If you can get up close with it, you can actually deploy a number of anti-tank weapons.
As the convoy moves inland they come across terrain that slows down the movement of tanks. Dozens of Boko Haram insurgents seize the opportunity to attack the convoy. Small arms fire began raining down on the convoy. Of course tanks are immune to small arms fire.
Then one tank explodes as it is hit by an anti-tank rocket. The insurgents had sprung an ambush.
The tank crew could actually see where the RPG rounds were coming from but couldnt bring the 125mm smooth bore gun turret to bear down on them because they were too close.
Boko Haram has a tactic of hugging tanks. They surrounded the tanks. One tank managed to pull back and ran straight into thick vegetation as the convoy struggled to hold off the insurgents.
With their track blown away, tank crews bailed out as the insurgents closed in for the kill before withdrawing into the jungle. Five soldiers are killed, others wounded.
It dawned on the Nigerian army that tanks themselves have no good defenses against enemy infantry.
They need infantry as their shield, especially in urban combat. The days of tanks working independently was over. Infantry and tanks now move as a cohesive unit with overlapping mission objectives and benefits. Infantry use tanks as a shield against machine gun fire.
While tanks also use infantry as a shield to prevent insurgents from getting too close. Now, this is all circumstantial.
As large heavily armed behemoths, tanks are still the primary offensive weapon of the Nigerian army. Their goal is primarily to neutralize enemy tanks.
The VT-4 Main Battle Tank is the one tank that can operate independently thanks to its coaxial 12.7mm machine gun and remotely controlled weapon station. The is a huge advantage of the tank, as the tank commander no longer has to expose himself to enemy fire.
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France is closing 2023 with a diminished presence in the restive Sahel region and Al-Qaeda is livid with rage against the putchist in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, going as far as calling them trecherous.
The leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb recently released a 22 minutes tape where he branded the new military rulers of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali "treacherous"and called on the citizens of these countries to turn on their leaders.
Why is AQIM upset about the French exit
from the Sahel and lashing out at the junters? It's bad for business.
The supply of money and weapons has come under threat. They've been raking in millions thanks to the geopolitical aspirations of a former colonial power determined to maintain a strategic foothold in Africa.
Nigeria gave France 48 hours to close down its Embassy in Lagos and to pack out of the country in retaliation against France exploding three nuclear devices in the Sahara despite vehement protests by Nigeria and other newly independent
African countries. Nigeria also banned French ships and aeroplanes from calling at her ports. The French Embassy in Lagos remained shut until October 1965. This unprecedented demonstration of power and resolve by an African country was a source of worry for France.
The French were worried that the size and potential strength of Nigeria might lead to a re-orientation of French West African countries away from France and towards Nigeria. Paris was preoccupied with the re-establishment and preservation of French imperial power which had been
For the NAF to transform it's self from a tactical, defensive force within Nigeria to one capable of strategic missions beyond territorial borders we need to up our numbers game.
The NAF already has the quality based on current and projected platforms.
A decade+ long insurgency, that necessitated on-going reforms changed the NAF's equipment priorities, from modernizing high tech hardware to platforms optimized for COIN and network-centric warfare.
The air force has progressed considerably towards building
and fielding a formidable force, and has assumed responsibilities that accompany the projection of national power in the sub region.
Only problem is the limited number of air superiority fighters. The smallest number of fighters in decades.
Still feeling under the weather 🤕. It gets worse as evening approaches.
However, after going through the comment section I've decided it's time to make the case for an ECOWAS intervention in Niger before analysing the capabilities of the potential belligerent of this crises.
ECOWAS weak response to recent coup 'd'etats paved the way for what is now a belt of dictatorships that stretches all the way from Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali and now Niger. They plotters gained the perception that ECOWAS is weak and could be challenged.
Failure of the regional bloc to respond militarily gave them the perception that they can push ECOWAS further without ramifications.
The latest coup in Niger has fundamentally changed the region. A new cold war between democratic states and military junta's...
In 1983 Maj. General Muhammadu Buhari, GOC of the 3rd Division in Jos flushed out Chadian forces that invaded Nigerian communities in dramatic fashion. 40 years later he presides over what is arguably the biggest military build-up in Nigeria's history.
The President realised the nation was in need of an overhaul of the military. Nigeria had been humiliated in the early stages of the insurgency and the terrorists seemed secure in their unrelenting mission of conquest. Boko Haram captured and occupied 22 LGA's in the northeast.
The Nigerian military was plagued by low morale, low pay, outdated equipment, and zero maintenance on what did exist. Soldiers were tired. It just wasn't worth it to them. There were instances of soldiers refusing to fight. Some fleeing to Cameroon on two occasions.
NAF A-29 with its panoply of GBU Paveway II laser guided bombs, 70mm rockets with Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) and 589 kilogram bombs. The cutting edge of American precision guided munitions and the NAF is the only in sub-sahara Africa to employ them.
The GBU paveway II integrates the most advanced guidance system that basically converts "dumb" Gravity bombs into precision guided munitions. A semi-active laser seeker and pneumatically controlled canards guide the weapon to its targets with pin point accuracy.
Enter the hydra rockets.
In their basic configurations these are basic 70mm unguided rockets. Not different from unguided rockets used by the L-39ZA or Alpha jets.
However the APKWS they came with transforms these "dumb" rockets into laser-guided weapons.