US approves Nigerian guided weapons request
An A-29 displayed with its weapons, including an SUU-20 pod for launching the training bombs in front of it. (Nigerian Air Force)
The US government has approved a Nigerian request for laser-guided air-launched munitions worth an estimated USD346 million, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 13 August.
The request covered 5,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) laser-guided missiles, 1,002 GBU-12 laser-guided bombs (500 lb Mk 82 general purpose warheads with Paveway II guidance kits), and 515 Paveway II kits for 250 lb Mk 81 warheads (to make GBU-58s) that were not included in the request.
When the DSCA announced in August 2017 that a Nigerian request for 12 A-29 Super Tucano turboprop light attack aircraft had been approved, it said it included 100 GBU-12, 100 GBU-58, and 400 APKWS guidance kits that upgrade 70 mm air-to-surface rockets into laser-guided missiles.
The earlier request also covered 2,000 Mk 81 warheads and 5,000 70 mm rockets, as well as seven AN/AAQ-22F (FLIR Systems Brite Star II) electro-optical systems to enable the A-29s to laser-designate targets.
All 12 A-29s were delivered to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in 2021. Some are assigned to the 407 Air Combat Air Training Group at NAF Base Kainji, while others are deployed to Maiduguri to support counter-insurgency operations in northeast Nigeria.
The US government also approved the sale of 2,000 APKWSs to Nigeria in April 2022 along with the 12 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters that were subsequently ordered but have not been delivered yet.
For more information, please see Nigerian Air Force commissions Super Tucano base infrastructure .
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