Game-changer: Support Service Aircraft, Six A-29 Super Tucano Aircraft Arrive Nigeria
First Batch of A-29 Super Tucano are expected to be inducted into the Nigerian Air Force in August.
A Donier support aircraft attached to the first batch of six Nigerian Air Force A-29 Super Tucano turboprop aircraft in desert and jungle camouflage scheme, arrived at Kano airport on July 22, 2021.
The Dornier Do-328-110 aircraft landed at Mallam Aminu Kano International around 12:50 p.m. on Thursday from Algeria, where the aircraft and the six Tucano stopped over on Wednesday.
The A-29 Tucano were flying together with the support aircraft, although they were not visible on FlightRadar24 flight tracker while approaching for the last leg of their trip to Nigeria.
HumAngle understands that the Tucano transponders were initially visible but flying without a callsign.
According to officials, the aircraft was scheduled to depart the United States of America and leapfrog through Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Spain and Algeria before arriving at their final destination in Nigeria.
There were multiple sightings of the aircraft flying in formations of three planes and a support service Dornier Do-328-110 while enroute and parked at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in Scotland, after which the formations headed to Zaragoza Airport in Spain, then Algeria, and Nigeria.
According to Embraer, the A-29 Super Tucano is a reliable and cost-effective solution for basic and advanced flight and combat training, close air support operations, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), armed overwatch, counterinsurgency and irregular warfare scenarios.
In 2018, Embraer Defense & Security and Sierra Nevada Corporation were awarded the contract to manufacture and deliver 12 Super Tucano to the Nigerian Air Force.
The deal followed payment for the aircraft and support services by the Nigerian government from the security intervention fund withdrawn from the country’s Excess Crude Account (ECA).
The A-29 Tucano will be stationed at the Air Force base in Kainji, Niger State, North-central Nigeria where support facilities have been constructed following a $36.1 million contract to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District.
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