�This is a very clear
demonstration of government commitment to ensuring that our armed forces are combat ready at all times� and that
they have the capacity to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria�
Frank Nweke, Nigeria�s Minister for Government Information
We reproduce this quote above because we like to be reminded
of the foolishness of countries and how the choices they make suggests that they would rather commit suicide than
face reality.
The tragedy of a people and of a culture arises
not from every individual in that culture making a choice for suicide but through the incurable tragic flaw of
its leaders.
No
one defense decision made by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration since its inception in 1999 exposes Nigeria
to more ridicule and increases the risk to our pilots and fighting men lack than the decision of this government
to acquire fifteen F-7 fighters from China at a cost of $253 million.
This purchase provides neither the sophisticated
aircraft the Air force needs nor the introduction of new technology that will provide training ground for the sort
of air force that Nigeria needs in the near future.
It is a buy that smacks of political decision-making
and gratuities.
The
decision to buy the Chinese F-7 fighters and the process by which the needs of the Nigerian Air force were identified
and decisions made are flawed and in dire need of correction.
Otherwise, how can a reasonable people and
government choose to spend in excess of $250 million buying an ancient and outdated relic of a fighter plane to
form the backbone of its airpower?
The
Chinese F-7 fighter plane is a 1964 re-engineered copy of the Russian MiG-21 Fishbed (NATO designation) that was
developed with the technology of the 1950s.
The MiG-21 series of fighter planes, until
their
recent retirement due to disrepair and age, formed between two to three fighter squadrons for the Nigeria
air force. True, that the F-7 fighter planes that Nigeria bought has
over the years undergone improvements to its avionics and suites of weapons including radars, to make it qualitatively
better than plane than it was when it first entered service with the Chinese PLA air force in 1964, our argument
remains true, too.
That, it is a second generation multi-role
fighter and in the same technological and capability league as the MiG-21 and best suited for the war fighting
conditions of 1960s and 1970s.
To place this in context, the US F-16 and
F-15 multi-role fighter planes are fourth generation aircrafts in the array of technology, weapon systems and capability. The
US currently operates a fifth generation airplane in the form of the F-22 radar evading plane which were used extensively
during the war in the Balkans where the much vaunted Yugoslavian air defense was reduced to shambling ramshackle
ness. The Russian Su-27 and Su-30MKK including the Swedish made
JAS-39 Gripen multi-role fighters and of which, South
Africa operates
two squadrons of 24 airplanes, are considered fourth generation fighter planes.
Very
few air forces in the world operate the F-7 multi-role fighter aircraft because of its limited combat capability
and survivability against opposing fighter aircrafts.
Where they are used as in the air forces of
China, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh and Sudan, they are used as complimentary air assets rather than
the primary backbone of those countries� air force and air defense.
For example, the Chinese air force field sophisticated
Russian fourth generation multi-role fighters as the Su-27 and the Su-30.
The Pakistanis deploy F-16 multi-role fighters
and French Mirages.
The Sudanese and the Iranians have the SU-24s
that are better planes than the F-7.
Pakistan, which currently has 50 F-7 fighters in its inventory
is gradually phasing them out and replacing them with another Chinese made aircraft, the FC-1 that is a more durable
and sophisticated fighter aircraft than the F-7.
The
FC-1 multi-role fighter is a qualitatively superior aircraft than the F-7.
The design of the FC-1 is based on the Russian
MiG-33, an aircraft that was rejected by the Russian air force.
But it has better thrusts and climb ratio
than the F-7, better maneuverability and it carries more weapons than the F-7.
And at $10 million each for an aircraft it
is $1 million cheaper than what the Nigerian government paid for the 15 F-7 it bought from China.
It
is possible, that the economic and financial limitations that Nigeria has may have informed its government decision to buy this
obsolete and technologically second-rate fighters but this is where the decision to buy these fighters and the
process by which that decision was reached displayed a serious lack of research, proper consultation, defense orientation
and merit. We contend that superior aircrafts in the same price range
($11m-$15m) as the F-7 and within the present technical capacity of the Nigerian air force exist that could have
met Nigeria�s current threat assessment need and also provide the proper foundation for building a national air-force
of the future that will provide not only target air-defense but one oriented and equipped for aerial warfare under
modern technological conditions.
We
have in mind such veritable planes as the F-8 another Chinese made multi-role fighter modeled again
on the Russian MiG-21.
The F-8 is a bigger plane than the F-7 and
comes with two engines as opposed to the F-7 a single engine plane.
Having two engines for a fighter plane is
particularly worth emphasizing here because no fighter plane dedicated as a multi-role fighter is worth any money
paid for it is only a single engine multi-role fighter as the F-7.
A fighter plane with two engines has faster
speed than a fighter with only one engine. The capacity for speed also increases the plane�s ability to escape
from incoming missiles either of the air-to-air variety or the more commonly available shoulder fired surface to
air (SAMS) such as the SA-7, SA �16 and the Stinger SAMS which no rebel or terrorist movement worth its goals and
propaganda appears to field.
Training
and pilot�s awareness makes a big difference in any air-to-air combat but speed, the sort that comes from the airplane
being equipped with two engines rather than one aids the aircrafts agility and survivability.
Pilot�s awareness is further enhanced and
sharpened by the advantages of radar, avionics, electronic counter measure (ECM) suites that the F-8 has over the
F-7. Another advantage of this basic fighter-interceptor as the F-8 over the F-7 is that the F-8 has the sort of
deep strike capability that the F-7 does not have.
Its deep strike capability comes from the
aircraft having sufficient range to strike at the enemy far beyond the battlefield and point air defense for ground
soldiers. Unlike the F-7 the F-8 has one of the most important capabilities that any fighter plane must have �
the capability to attack other opposing planes beyond the visual range (BVR) of the pilot where most air combats
occur. It comes with the weapon suite and data link to make such
BVR attacks possible.
Its weapon systems include the sophisticated
medium air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles such as the PL-8, R-27, Atoll-10 and PL-5B that can take out another
opposing airplane at a minimum distance of 15 kilometers.
Does
Nigeria Need A Very Good Air Force?
We
felt the need to respond to some readers who query the need for Nigeria even spending money it does not have on the fighter planes
and it�s military.
Yes, we admit that Nigeria is has so much
pressing social and economic problems o address and limited finances now to do so.
But we also understand that security especially
national security is not a luxury or one option among several.
It is the only option.
Just as guaranteeing good health is the first
option for an individual.
It is when one is healthy that they can pursue
other improvements and increase productivity.
Nigeria
has no choice, but to be strong militarily, within the bounds of its other social and
economic priorities.
The country faces tremendous security problem
and for which, its military is not trained and adequately equipped to deal with as it must.
National security is a very important and
necessary task for a country like Nigeria with vast resources and multi-ethnic peoples with sentiments
for irredentism and separatism.
Nigeria defense strategy and investments in that implementing
that strategy must focus on the need of responding to the external and internal security challenges it will face
in this century.
Some of the internal assaults remain the violent
religious strife that periodically emanates from its largely Muslim North, the on-going instability in the Niger-Delta,
separatist tendencies by OPC and MASSOB and a possible assault on the constitutional order by its military or an
element of its military.
We hasten to add that it will be wishful thinking
for Nigeria defense planners not to address the reasons that give
rise to the strong religious and separatist passions evidenced by its peoples.
Investment in an effective and strong national
defense alone is not a solution.
Rather, such a defense strategy must be created
within the paradigm of Nigeria�s security dilemma.
Externally, Nigeria�s
defense strategy must be ready to respond to violent disorder in its border
states which includes
all of West Africa, secure its vast resources off-shore and prevent or minimize
big power military incursion or influence in West and Central
Africa, its area of strategic
influence.
It
is our position that a very well equipped and technically capable air force is necessary for securing Nigeria�s
present and future interests.
That an investment in such an air force is
not wasteful but should be focused on achieving long-term security and technical proficiency.
For example, government can begin to invest
in attracting the best to the air service emphasizing merit in recruitment and advancement and investing in the
buying of a strategic airlift capability, good helicopter platforms for insurgency warfare and especially in adopting
into service such decent and sophisticated airplanes as the French Mirage 2000, the US F-16C, the Russian Su-27
and Su-30MKK and also the Swedish JAS -39 Gripen.
We believe these platforms will meet Nigeria�s
air defense need for the next 20 years and it will also provide a basis for training pilots and technical crew
for an air force that can adapt to the use of more sophisticated fourth and fifth generation multi-role fighters.
