Nigeria receives final Super Tucanos

Nigeria has received the last of 12 Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC)-Embraer A-29 Super Tucano light-attack turboprops, with the final batch of six aircraft arriving in-country at the end of September.

With the first six aircraft having been inducted into the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in August, the arrival of the second and final batch was recorded online by flight tracking websites. There had been no official announcement from either the Nigerian or US authorities, at the time of publication.

As previously noted by US Africa Command, 64 NAF pilots and maintainers have been trained on the Super Tucano by the US Air Force's 81st Fighter Squadron at Moody Air Force Base in the US state of Georgia, while the US Army Corps of Engineers is providing USD36.1 million in infrastructure support to the Super Tucano's home station of Kainji Air Base.

Interestingly, some of the aircraft are finished in a desert-type colour scheme, while others have a jungle camouflage finish that likely reflects a forward basing option.