ISLAMABAD - Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), confirmed on 15 February that the air force will receive an unspecified number of JF-17 Thunder multirole fighter aircraft in November 2020.

The aircraft are constructed by China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) alongside the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC).

Abubakar also noted that negotiations to procure Embraer A-29 Super Tucanos are ongoing, with an undisclosed number expected to enter into service with the NAF by 2022.

The new NAF aircraft are expected to be used in COIN operations.

Nigeria faces security threats from armed bandit groups as well as the Islamist terror group Boko Haram, which has waged a decade-long insurgency in the north of the country.

Abubakar confirmed that the NAF’s aircraft serviceability rate has increased from 35% in July 2015 to 82% by February 2020.