₦airaland Forum

kabe1:
In Syria, Iraq, Somalia and West Africa.

Unfortunately the points you mentioned for US and Israeli failure in their operations do not hold water.

The Taliban took over Afghanistan despite the US presence in the country.

What resources does Nigeria have to make any meaningful difference.

Nigeria does not have even a fraction of the resources the Americans had in Afghanistan.

Infact the Air campaign over Libya to topple Ghaddafi we don't even have that at our best strength.

The comment about insurgents moving freely is just as ignorant as they come(not to you).

Exnavyboy62:
And unlike the United States that had back up and support of its powerful NATO and non-NATO allies which contributed their resources in the Afghan conflict and the Libyan campaign, Nigeria is basically on its own in the fight against Insurgency.
Even in the Multi-National Joint Task Force, Nigerian forces stand out as the most equipped and as such have to provide air or ground support for the other MNJTF members when they need it.

kabe1:
Footage shows a Nigerian Air Force fighter Aircraft evading gunfire from putchists on the ground yesterday in Cotonou, Benin.

Footage shows a Nigerian Air Force fighter jet evading gunfire from putchists on the ground yesterday in Cotonou, Benin. https://t.co/6uUQaH3igz pic.twitter.com/R57HTs76vd

— Brant (@BrantPhilip_) December 8, 2025

jteku:
The U.S. will fast‑track Nigeria’s arms orders. That could bring the NAF’s 12 AH‑1Z Viper attack helicopters in earlier than the 2028 target, and give the Army Aviation Corps its 12 MD‑530F Cayuse Warrior Plus scout/attack helicopters sooner. The two contracts together are worth about $2 billion.

kabe1:
Nigerian Air Force AW109S Trekker

ocelot2006:
We need to invest more in heavy lift utility helicopters, especially with the issue of insurgents attacks in remote locations up north.

Fidha254:
Whoopsies


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqK8j0kgohA?si=KCeCYv-v04X0nYKN

Toju200:
that was sick
The military guys didn't even flinch

ocelot2006:
I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of this AH-1Z Viper procurement. Yes, the may be compatibility advantages as we operate some Bell helos, but my issue is political. We all know the conditions and restrictions they're fond of setting. We should've stuck with the Turkish T-129 and the Russian Mi-24/35Ms.

Fidha254:
Whoopsies


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqK8j0kgohA?si=KCeCYv-v04X0nYKN

GreenandGold:
The SANDF

Lurker4Long:
This was the logical outcome of a system that spoke the language of law while practising the politics of power.

That lesson matters now because we are again living through a credibility test of the international system — and once again, a great power has elevated an ideology around its racial identity, and black people are being made to feel they count less than others.

US President Donald Trump’s worldview makes this explicit. In his framing, international order rests on the rule of the “larger, richer, stronger.” Power — not law — determines outcomes. The world is divided into spheres of influence managed by great powers through deals, threats and transactions. Smaller states do not have rights; they have utility.

This is not a return to Cold War competition. As the political scientist Stacie Goddard has observed, Trump is not trying to defeat China or Russia. He seeks collusion, not competition — a modern “concert of powers” in which strongmen cooperate to manage the world above the heads of weaker states. Order is imposed, not negotiated; stability purchased, not guaranteed.

For Africa, this should sound chillingly familiar. It is the logic of Abyssinia updated for the 21st century: peace through partition, stability through extraction, diplomacy through coercion. The language has changed; the hierarchy has not.

Nowhere was this clearer than when Trump boasted, during what was meant to be the signing of a peace accord between the presidents of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo, that the United States was “getting … a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo”. The message was unmistakable: African conflict is not a humanitarian or security concern; it is an opportunity to secure resources, a pit to plunder from.

Tinfoil:
Flying junk.

These jets are way past their expire date.

They are actually a danger to the pilot's.

Police on Tuesday morning repelled an al Shabaab night raid on a Chinese workers’ residence in Elwak, Mandera County.
The team managed to secure all 10 Chinese present, as vehicles and property were damaged in the attack.
The attackers escaped after a long battle with security teams that were present.
The attack occurred at about 1:00 am, when heavily armed militants forcefully gained entry into the compound, located roughly one kilometre from Elwak Police Station, triggering a prolonged exchange of gunfire with officers guarding the residence.
“The officers on duty gallantly held their ground and successfully repulsed the attack,” police said in a statement, adding that the assailants later fled the scene.
According to police, the militia demolished the main gate and damaged the perimeter barrier during the assault.
The attackers, armed with both crude and sophisticated weapons, are believed to have been ferried into Elwak town using four Toyota Probox vehicles that accessed the area from Buraache along border cutline routes near the Kenya–Somalia border.
“They positioned themselves opposite the main gate before opening fire,” police said.
Officers from the Border Patrol Unit (BPU) based in Elwak were deployed to reinforce the team on the ground, a move that helped secure all the Chinese nationals, who are involved in road construction projects in the area and are housed under armed police protection.
Police said the attackers damaged a police vehicle, five Toyota Hilux double-cab vehicles, a grader and a water bowser belonging to the Chinese construction company.
The Mandera incident came as bomb disposal experts on Tuesday defused a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) found under a bridge in Nyatike, Migori County, in a separate security scare.
“The device was connected to a live wire and was safely disabled by our bomb experts,” police said.
Seven pieces of gel explosives were recovered from the scene during an operation carried out by multi-agency security teams, who cordoned off the area for several hours to allow the exercise to proceed safely.
No injuries were reported in either incident, and police said investigations were ongoing to establish the motive behind the attempted attack in Mandera and the placement of the explosive device in Migori.

Fidha254:
They want the area to remain inaccessible and underdeveloped so that they can push the narrative that north east has historically been marginalised by the christian led central government.

Police repel al-Shabaab raid on Chinese workers’ camp in Mandera

Odunayaw:
In my country?
"Throw muh soldiers"

The age-old adage – a story always has three sides: yours, mine, and the truth – also applies here. Apt words to describe a truly remarkable book. For 40 years, readers of authoritative South African (SA) literature covering the aerial war over Angola (1976–1988) and the South African Air Force (SAAF) history, have believed that Johan Rankin (3 Squadron,SAAF) shot down two Cuban MiG-21s over southern Angola, when in fact one of the MiGs made it home, albeit on a wing and a prayer.
For 40 years, an SAAF C-130 crew believed they were targeted by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, when in fact they were nearly shot down by a Cuban MiG-23 flown by Eduardo Gonzáles Sarría himself. Only when two sides of the same story were analysed and timelines were compared, did the stories become one: the truth.

The MiG Diaries is a true and brilliant account of some of the aerial warfare encounters of the Angolan conflict during the 1970s and 1980s. In an SA context, most of these accounts are well known, and have been discussed and written about for many years.
These accounts however have all been marred by one big limitation: the stories were told based on reports of SAAF aircrew alone. Moreover, no matter how accurate and authentic these accounts are, no story can ever really be declared truthful if not validated by the other side. And this is exactly where Lionel Reid, a former SAAF pilot involved in the Bush War (1966–1989) and Lt Col. Eduardo Gonzáles Sarría, a Cuban pilot who flew MiG-21s and MiG-23s in Angola, have managed to fill a 40-year-old void. They have succeeded in addressing uncertainties that have been lingering for a very long time in the minds of those involved on both the SAAF and the Cuban and Angolan sides, providing a fresh and more inclusive view of the aerial war in Angola.

The MiG Diaries is in essence an account of the aerial war in Angola between 1976 and 1988, primarily from the viewpoint of the Cuban aircrew involved. Throughout the book, it is evident that the authors prioritised the factual correctness of all mentioned encounters. To this end, the authors made an effort to track down and interview numerous personnel involved, not just from the SA and Cuban sides, but also from the Angolan and even Soviet sides. No effort was spared to achieve a nuanced and detailed view of all the encounters.

Being the author of two previous books (in Spanish) on the subject, Eduardo Gonzáles Sarría was already in possession of various recorded encounters and photographs from former colleagues. These, in conjunction with similar books by SA writers, provided the perfect foundation for The MiG Diaries. In the book, particular emphasis is placed on the experiences and contributions of Lt Col. Eduardo Gonzáles Sarría, who completed three separate operational tours in Angola between 1976 and 1988.
His first deployment in 1976 was as a 26-year-old, rookie MiG-21 pilot. He returned as a MiG-23 squadron commander in 1985 for his second tour, during which he played a pivotal role in all MiG-23 operations. His final tour saw him being part of a safety board delegation in 1988.

As a former SAAF pilot involved in the war, full-time airline pilot, and avid military aviation enthusiast, Lionel Reid has always had a fascination with the details of the Angolan conflict. After reading one of Sarría’s books, Reid identified an opportunity to piece together a book project aimed at eradicating decades of one-sided narratives. A few emails between two old foes soon blossomed into a lasting friendship between Reid and Sarría, and the birth of The MiG Diaries.

The MiG Diaries aims to eradicate misconceptions and uncertainties related to the aerial war component of the Angolan conflict, and deliberately circumvents controversial politics. The events covered in the book are well known and have been covered in many books in the past, from an SA as well as a Cuban and Angolan viewpoint. For the first time, however, these well-known stories are synchronised, presenting a complete picture of numerous air encounters in detail. The book manages to effect an amazed “wow!-is-that-what-happened” response from the reader, especially among those who have been confronted with one-sided narratives for many years.

The prime example here is the subject of the air-to-air MiG-21 losses in November 1981 and October 1982. In both these cases, Maj. Johann Rankin (3 Squadron, SAAF) managed to engage a Cuban MiG-21 with the 30 mm cannon of his Mirage F1CZ. The first MiG-21 shootdown on 6 November 1981 was clear, and no doubt ever existed in the minds of either side about the outcome of that engagement. The second MiG-21 “shootdown” on 5 October 1982 could however never be confirmed by the SAAF. A large explosion noted on the gun camera footage led to the belief that the MiG-21 could not have survived the engagement. For many years, the SA narrative was that Johann Rankin downed two MiG-21s.

In fact, Raciel Marrero Rodriguez, the pilot of the stricken Cuban MiG-21, achieved a marvellous feat that day, and managed to land a very badly damaged aircraft at Lubango. For an avid reader of SAAF history, this revelation undoubtedly affected a very surprised response from the reviewer. Many more such examples are discussed in detail in The MiG Diaries. Another big revelation for the reviewer was to realise that most Angolan and Cuban aircraft shootdowns scored by a South African during the Angolan war was not by a pilot, but by an electronic warfare turned air-defence operator by the name of Flight Sergeant Johan Strydom. And the bigger “wow!” affected here was to realise that he shot these aircraft down with a Soviet-made SA-9 (self-propelled anti-aircraft missile system), captured from the Angolans. The mystery surrounding these encounters and many more have finally been debunked.

The aerial war turned well in favour of the Cubans during the mid-1980s. The access to MiG-23s equipped with all-aspect missiles stacked the odds squarely in their favour.
This was highlighted in September 1987, when Arthur Piercy’s Mirage F1CZ was badly damaged by an AA-8 air-to-air missile fired from a MiG-23. The aerial war was primarily conducted over Angolan territory, which inherently meant that SAAF aircraft often had to operate well outside friendly radar coverage, and well inside dense enemy radar coverage. This forced the SAAF to concentrate on low-level operations in an attempt to remain below enemy radar coverage for as long as possible. The ground attack tactics and doctrine developed by the SAAF during the Angolan conflict were extremely effective, and the SAAF carried out many successful strikes deep in Angolan territory.

As many similar books before, The MiG Diaries highlights the inability of the SAAF air combat component to attain and maintain air superiority over southern Angola during the mid- to late 1980s. This was primarily due to a lack of proper over-the-horizon friendly radar coverage (i.e. airborne early warning and control system or AWACS), the lack of proper all-aspect short-range missile systems, and the lack of proper beyond-visual-range missiles.

The MiG Diaries tells the story of the Cuban, Angolan, and SA pilots who fought during the Angolan conflict. The book was written by two pilots who were intimately involved in the conflict, and experiences are brought to life by a magnificent selection of pencil sketches by Sean Thackwray, a former SAAF fighter pilot himself. The book allows the reader to become part of the war, sitting in the cockpit, feeling the kick of the afterburner, and smelling the cordite from a fired cannon. It is a must-read for all military aviation enthusiasts and aerial warfare historians.

General Carlo Gagiano (former Chief of the SAAF) aptly noted to Lionel Reid that this was probably the last chance to tell the story of the aerial war over Angola correctly. With memories fading and war heroes passing on, the authors should be commended for achieving this objective. Although ideologies might differ, one certainty remains, pilots will be pilots. The camaraderie, crew room banter, passion for flying, and love for our machines cut across all differences.
Hano van Eck
Department of Military Technology, Stellenbosch University,
Saldanha, South Africa
https://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/issue/view/189

Lurker4Long:
Odunayaw, been a while since my book recommendations for your collection. From the perspective of mainly the SAAF and the Cuban Air Force - with Angolan and Soviet inputs - this one does not disappoint. A review from the SA Military Academy Journal:

Odunayaw:
In my country?
"Throw muh soldiers"

Operation Toy Drop (OTD) 2025 recently concluded with the participation of KDF Jumpmasters and the Green Eagles Freefall Team from the Army Special Operations Brigade (ASOB). The 25th Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop was conducted at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, bringing together multinational airborne forces in a demonstration of operational excellence, partnership, and service.

Established in 1998 by then–Staff Sergeant Randy Oler, a U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) [USACAPOC(A)] Soldier, Operation Toy Drop began as a small airborne training event that combined proficiency training with community outreach. Over the years, it has grown into one of the largest multinational airborne operations in the world.

Lurker4Long:

Lurker4Long:

MiddleDimension:
Honestly your government needs to do something about your economy. When we started the other thread on best military in Africa, the exchange rate then between the rand and the dollar was about 1 to 7. Now, it has more than halved since then.

At a point in the future, the ANC will come under intense pressure both from home and abroad especially with your activist stands on Palestine and also the fact that other Africans percieve you as xenophobic.

Nigeria looks like things will get better for it going forward. You don't want to be having crisis at a time when you have younger Africans both in your country and elsewhere, who are a bit divorced from the Pan African ideal that saw solidarity across the board and a Nigeria that will be doing better at the time.

Yours is a great country; a testament that skin colour is just what it is: a skin colour and that it doesn't define the person and that people of different colour can live together in peace and harmony. It was the best decision Mandela took that you become a rainbow nation.

The experiment that your country is a success and has inspired many people including those who are antagonistic towards you. I would not like you to have issues especially when you have shown to the world that mankind is not completely a beast.

Odunayaw:
Now that BAT is cozy with France, we ought to rush them with a proposal to get their surplus Pumas since we refused to man up and get UK RAF's own

See this
https://www.exclusiveaircraft.co.uk/helicopter-sales/mi-171e-helicopters-sale