and military ights. Some sustain the
base, but the bulk is distributed to French
settlements in the Sahel, including
Ouagadougou, Madama and Gao. As well
as the French assets, German Transalls are
permanently stationed at Niamey, with
the US Air Force and various European
allies providing further cargo
aircraft support.
‘The [air transport types] play a central
role on the BAP,’ explains the Groupement
Tactique Opérationnel^ (GTO) commander.
The names of military personnel are
withheld for security reasons. The GTO
runs two Transalls and a CN235, which ispermanently deployed to Gao. ‘We can
practically do all the technical
interventions required here,’ he added.
‘The only maintenance tasks out of reach
are those requiring a hangar, such as
putting the aircraft on jacks.’ Niamey
doesn’t have the necessary facilities for
such requirements, the basic
infrastructure being a recurring issue in
sub-Saharan Africa. Any aircraft requiring
more than basic servicing must be own
out to Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire for such
work to be carried out.
The French transport aircraft are
typically kept busy supporting logistics ights, parachute drops and in- ight
refueling (IFR), the latter including
support of a detached C-160G Gabriel
ELINT (electronic intelligence) aircraft.
The Gabriel is a regular visitor to Gao, but
the heat means it must take-o lightly
fueled, being topped up by another
C-160 once airborne.
One thing about the Transall is certain
— it’s getting very long in the tooth. The
Niamey-based aircraft bene t from
thorough maintenance, but this isn’t
su cient to guarantee good availability.
For example, during Combat Aircraft’s visit,
one example was stuck on the apron with
a faulty hydraulic system and its sister
aircraft was unserviceable awaiting an
engine component from France that was
inbound aboard an Airbus A400M.Below: A sickly
C-160 Transall
receiving
attention on the
ramp at Niamey.
French teams
also provide
technical support
to the German
detachment at
Niamey, which
includes a further
pair of C-160s.
Left: Technicians
work on a
Transall’s Rolls-
Royce Tyne.COMBAT REPORT // OPERATION ‘BARKHANE’
84 September 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
82-89 Niamey C.indd 84 20/07/2018 11:32