Airforces

Liaison (AEILS) and ten staff

branches, including the newly

established Communications

Branch which was spun off

from the former Logistics and

Communications Branch.

Each staff branch, headed by an

air vice-marshal, has a number

of subordinate directorates

and departments. Through

its staff branches and their

subordinate directorates, HQ

NAF exercises control over

six operational commands.

They are Tactical Air Command

(TAC), headquartered at Makurdi;

a nascent Special Operations

Command (SOC), established

in 2016 with its HQ at Bauchi;

Mobility Command (MC), with

its HQ at Yenagoa; two new

training commands derived from

the now defunct Kaduna-based

Training Command – the Air

Training Command (ATC) with its

HQ at Kaduna and the Ground

Training Command (GTC) with

its HQ at Enugu; and the Lagos-

based Logistics Command.

Every command has several

subordinate groups, each of

which has at least one wing

• and each wing includes one
  or more squadrons. Wings
  are not always co-located with
  their parent unit, and while
  the numerical designations of
  some flying wings are known,
  information on current flying
  squadrons is not openly available.
  For administrative purposes,

each group is located at a fixed

base. A flying group and its

subordinate flying wing typically

operate a single aircraft type,

although recent deployment

patterns suggest the NAF is

moving towards composite

groups using detachments

of various aircraft types

on combat operations.

For example, 103 Strike Group

(103 STG, formerly designated

79 STG) and 105 Composite

Group (105 CG, ex-79 CG), at

Yola and Maiduguri respectively

• which are frontline bases in
  the thick of operations against
  Boko Haram – operate mixed
  formations of fighters and fixed-
  wing intelligence, surveillance and
  reconnaissance (ISR) platforms,
  including unmanned aerial
  vehicles (UAVs) and combat,
  transport and utility helicopters.
  Since early last year, the NAF
  has been working through
  one of its periodic exercises
  in reorganisation. Typically
  occurring every five years
  or so, they reflect evolving
  operational needs.
  The two most obvious
  changes this time include
  the establishment of Special
  Operations Command in 2016
  and the splitting up of the
  Training Command into the

L39ZA trainers in fl ight. Normally operated as basic and advanced trainers by 403 FTS in

Kano, the pressing need for more combat platforms has seen a growing number of these

aircraft modifi ed as light ground-attack aircraft with ordnance from MiG-21 stocks. NAF

Nigeria

Niger

Benin

Togo

Ghana

Burkina

Faso

Cameroon

Chad

Central

African

Republic

Gulf of Guinea

Sokoto AF

Kano AF

Mguno/Monguno

helo FOB

Maiduguri

AF

Yola AF

Minna AF

Kerang

Kafanchan

helo FOB

Bauchi AF,

HQ SOC

Kaduna AF,

HQ ATC

Abuja IAP

Abuja

Makurdi AB,

HQ TAC

Enugu AB,

HQ GTC

Owerri

Benin AF

Warri AF

Ipetu-Ijesha

Ibadan AF

Port

Harcourt AF

Yenagoa

HQ, MC

Calabar AF

Kainji AB

Ilorin AF

Badagry

helo FOB

Ikeja IAP,

HQ LC

Jos AF

Katsina AF Daura

Gusau

50 // SEPTEMBER 2017 #354 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

FORCE REPORT Nigerian Air Force Part One