
Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (Rtd), inspecting the newly-arrived A-29 Super Tucano jets from U.S, after touchdown in Kano, Thursday
Nigeria takes delivery of six A-29 Super Tucano jets from U.S

Nigerian military has taken delivery of six A-29 Super Tucano fighter/trainer aircraft from the United States.

Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (Rtd), inspecting the newly-arrived A-29 Super Tucano jets from U.S, after touchdown in Kano, Thursday
The aircraft which represent the first batch of 12 ordered jets from the United States arrived Kano, Thursday afternoon, and were received by the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (Rtd), Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao.


A statement confirming the arrival of the jets made available by the Director of Public Relations and Information, Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said the aircraft touched down in Kano at about 12:34pm.
According to the Nigerian Navy spokesperson, the jets left the United States enroute Nigeria on July 14, 2021, passing through Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Spain and Algeria.
Air Commodore Gabkwet said an official induction ceremony of the aircraft into the inventory of NAF is already being planned at a later date in August 2021 and will be announced in due course.
Nigeria reportedly paid the United States the sum of $462million for 12 Tucanos and other weapons back in 2018.
The payment covers Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) systems for six of the aircraft.
The fighter jets are said to have Paveway II guided bomb, laser-guided rockets, 12.7 mm ammunition, unguided bombs and infrared sensors.
The contract also provided for ground training equipment, mission planning systems, mission debrief systems, spares, ground support equipment and support services.