NAF technicians repair 6 Alpha jet engines, save Nigeria $2.4million (photos)

14.06.2017 20:38

NAF Team that repaired the aircraft engines comprised one officer and 2 airmen, all of who, in December, attended a 12-day Alpha Jet Aircraft Engine Assembly.

- The Nigerian Air Force technicians have successfully repaired 6 Alpha Jet aircraft engines

- The NAF team that repaired the aircraft engines comprised one officer and 2 airmen

- Foreign vendors had earlier quoted the sum of $400,000 to recover each of the engines, amounting to $2.4 million to repair the 6 engines

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is already directly reaping from its human capacity building drive, being one of the key drivers of the vision of the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

The revelation came to the fore during the recent tour of operational facilities embarked upon by the CAS to the NAF unit in Kainji.

NAF Team that repaired the aircraft engines comprised one officer and 2 airmen

While on the visit, Air Marshal Abubakar was briefed by the NAF technicians who had just successfully repaired 6 Alpha Jet aircraft engines.

The NAF Team that repaired the aircraft engines comprised one officer and 2 airmen, all of who, in December 2016, attended a 12-day Alpha Jet Aircraft Engine Assembly and Disassembly Course in Canada, as part of the NAF's capacity building efforts.

It is noteworthy that foreign vendors had earlier quoted the sum of $400,000 to recover each of the engines, amounting to $2.4 million to repair the 6 engines.

However, the NAF team was able to repair the engines by using spare parts available in the warehouse. As a result, the country was saved the sum of over $2.4 million that would have otherwise been used to recover the engines.

This is besides the usually huge cost of freighting the engines to and from overseas repair facilities and the associated delay.

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Meanwhile, the engines have already been installed on 3 Alpha Jet aircraft and deployed for air operations in the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the northeastern part of the country.

According to Air Marshal Abubakar, the capacity building efforts of the NAF had been made largely successful due to the unflinching support the NAF was receiving from the Federal Government, especially through timely releases of needed funds.

The revelation came to the fore during the recent tour of operational facilities embarked upon by the CAS to the NAF unit in Kainji

NAIJ.com had earlier reported that Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, the chief of the Air Staff (CAS) together with the Branch Chiefs at Headquarters Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Tuesday June 13, toured to operational facilities at the Nigerian Air Force Bases in Makurdi and Kainji.

It was gathered that the importance of the visit was to monitor the state of the facilities, most of which are critical to the maintenance of the fighter aircraft being employed in the ongoing counterinsurgency operations against the Boko Haram insurgents and other subversive elements in Nigeria.

Watch a NAIJ.com TV video below of the newly winged officers decorated at the NAF headquarters.