By Victor Akaa
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, met with his Egyptian counterpart, Lieutenant General Mahmoud Foaad Abd El-Gawad, on September 4, 2024, in Cairo, Egypt.
The meeting aimed to enhance cooperation and collaboration between the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and the Egyptian Air Force (EAF), particularly in pilot training and Research and Development (R&D).
According to Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet, Director of Public Relations and Information NAF, both leaders acknowledged the successful history of training collaboration between their air forces and agreed to further leverage this partnership. The NAF has previously benefited from the training of around 50 pilots by the EAF.
The chiefs explored opportunities for collaboration in R&D, particularly concerning the NAF’s Alpha jets. The EAF will send a delegation to Nigeria to assess the Alpha jets and undertake an overhaul of the aircraft in conjunction with NAF engineers.
Additionally, the visiting team will evaluate the possibility of conducting in-house tactical training for NAF pilots.
During the visit, Air Marshal Abubakar attended the Egypt International Air Show at El-Alamein International Airport, where he held discussions with various aircraft manufacturers and defence companies.
The NAF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ariegsa, an Egyptian company, to construct simulators for each aircraft type in the NAF Order of Battle. The simulators will be built in Nigeria in collaboration with NAF engineers to facilitate knowledge transfer.
The visit was attended by Air Vice Marshal Ahmed Idris, Director of Training, and Air Commodore Adebayo Bamidele, Commander of the 301 Heavy Airlift Group, Enugu Reporters reported.
