The Nigerian Air Force has received Marauder mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles from South Africa’s Paramount Group, the company said in a release.

The 15-tonne armored personnel carriers are equipped with Snake Head weapons station fitted with 7.62mm machine guns, designed and built by Jordan’s King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) the Friday, March 28 release said, confirming social media posts which appeared to show the vehicles in Nigeria earlier in March. The Snake Head features glass panels to improve visibility.

The vehicles have a crew of two and can carry eight passengers at a top speed of 120 kph (75 mph).`

Double-skinned throughout the cabin and crew compartment and fitted with anti-blast seats, the Marauder is protected to STANAG Level 3, and can withstand the equivalent of 8 kg of TNT under the hull and 14 kg of TNT under any wheel, although blast protection can be increased with additional armor. The hulls of the Nigerian vehicles can withstand a side blast “equivalent to 50 kgs of explosives,” the release said, a critical capability given Boko Haram’s use of roadside bombs in northern Nigeria.

Nigerian instructors training NAF special forces

The first 175 NAF Special Forces personnel trained by Nigerian instructors graduated on March 15, the Nigerian Air Force said. Previously, NAF special forces were trained by Israeli contractor the Four Troops Team, and overseas training including in Belarus, China and Pakistan was also undertaken.

Over the past four years, more than 1,000 NAF SF personnel have been trained, Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar said.