http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #361 APRIL 2018 // 41
912SCMs delivered by France.
The DA42s, equipped with the
Carl Zeiss Optronics Goshawk
350 airborne observation system,
have clocked up more than
1,000 operational flight hours
and improved Niger’s national
security by locating enemy
positions, neutralising traffickers
and carrying out search and
rescue (SAR) missions.
The Tétras fleet has suffered
some attrition, one being lost in
2010 and another on December
2 the following year. Three are
stored, leaving three in service.
In 2011 the sole C-130H
carried out 15 rotations to the
Ivory Coast, transporting 1,900
soldiers, gendarmes and national
guardsmen for Niger’s ONUCI
(United Nations Operation in
Côte d’Ivoire) contingents. Total
flight time was 71hrs 50mins.
Niger took delivery of seven more
aircraft in 2013 – including three
SA342L-1 Gazelles provided by
France, refurbished by the Aerotec
Group and handed over in a
ceremony at Niamey on March 27.
On the same day, the FAN also
took on two former Ukrainian
Su-25 attack aircraft. Originally
destined for Mali, they were sold
to Niger after the deal fell through
and refurbished by the Zaporozhye
State Aviation Repair Factory
in Ukraine prior to delivery.
The FAN also bolstered its
surveillance fleet in 2013,
receiving two Cessna 208B Grand
Caravans on July 5 from the
United States for cargo missions.
That September, it was announced
that one of the DA42s would be
upgraded with an L3 Wescam
MX-15 electro-optical/infrared
sensor, while the other would
receive satellite communications
equipment and new radios.
The two Mi-17s were upgraded
for United Nations SAR missions
in 2014, Lithuanian company ASU
Baltija installing an observation
system and medical stretchers.
In July 2014, a Boeing 737-
700 arrived as a replacement
for the 737-200 used by the
government, which has been
stored since February 2015.
The latest FAN aircraft are a
Beechcraft King Air 350 received
in 2014 and two new Cessna
208B Grand Caravans which
arrived in October 2015 and are
in an intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance (ISR) configuration
for border security work. US
pseudo Foreign Military Sales
contracts awarded in May 2016
cover another four ISR-equipped
Grand Caravans, one or two of
which are likely to be for Niger.The jihadist threat
On February 23, 2015, Nigerien
Su-25s bombed a convoy of trucks
along the River Kamadougou,
which separates northern Nigeria
from south-eastern Niger. The
vehicles were carrying smoked
fish to Nigeria: Boko Haram taxes
fishermen or seizes their catches
along the shores of Lake Chad
to finance its militant activities.
Another FAN bombing mission,
on November 5, 2015, targeted a
Boko Haram base in the southern
border region of Diffa in retaliation
for an ambush on a military convoy,
which had killed a Nigerien soldier.
A bilateral agreement between
Niger and Nigeria authorises cross-
border attacks to target militants.
On February 25, 2016, the Nigerien
Army crossed the frontier to
pursue Boko Haram insurgents
that had stolen several pick-ups
in Niger. Their vehicle convoy
was first identified by a Cessna
208B and then attacked by the
two Mi-24s supported by troops.Armée de l’Air du Niger – current types
Type Serial c/n Comments
C-130H Hercules
(L-382G)5U-MBD 382-4829 Written off April 16, 1997C-130H Hercules
(L-382G)5U-MBH 382-4831Do 228-201 5U-MBI 8 074
Tétras 912SCM 5U-MBV 106 Stored
Tétras 912SCM 5U-MBW 125 Stored
Tétras 912SCM 5U-(MBX) 126 Written off December 2, 2011
Tétras 912SCM 5U-MBY 136 Stored
Tétras 912SCM 5U-MCA 170
Tétras 912SCM 5U-MCB 178
Tétras 912SCM 5U- 98 Written off 2010
Su-25 5U-MCC 25508106025 ex-Ukrainian*
Su-25 5U-MCF 25508105037 ex-Ukrainian*
Mi-17 5U-MHA
Mi-17 5U-MHB
Mi-35P (5U-M) ‘HC’ 054376 Only wears last two
characters of serial*
Mi-35P (5U-M) ‘HD’ 054377 Only wears last two
characters of serial*
DA42 MPP 5U-MRX 42-304
DA42 MPP 5U-MRZ 42-282
SA342L-1 Gazelle 5U-MHE 3477 3477(F), ‘GJB’ (ALAT)
SA342L-1 Gazelle 5U-MHF 3531 F-ZKBE, 3531(F), ‘GJE’ (ALAT)*
SA342L-1 Gazelle 5U-MHG 3547 3547(F), ‘GJG’ (ALAT)
King Air 350 5U-MPD FL- 6 0 5 ex N3425W, CN-TJC, N450SN
Cessna 208B
Grand Caravan5U-MRW 208B-5023 ex N81444Cessna 208B
Grand Caravan5U-MRY 208B-5024 ex N8130VCessna 208B
Grand Caravan5U-MRT 208B-5174 ex N31010Cessna 208B
Grand Caravan5U-MRU 208B-5176 ex N31016Boeing 737-2N9C 5U-BAG 21499/513 Monts Bagzane; Lasham, UK,
stored awaiting scrapping
Boeing 737-75U 5U-GRN 28976/NG158 Mont Greboun* Tie-ups to c/n assumed to be correctAfter three years spent
training the pilots, the two
Gazelles carried out their first
operational sortie on October
17, 2016, pursuing insurgents
from a motorcycle commando
responsible for a failed attack
against Koutoukalé prison, 31 milesLeft: One of Niger’s two former Ukrainian Su-25s, 5U-MCF (c/n 25508105037),
during a pre-delivery test fl ight. The jets probably came from the 4070th
Ukrainian Reserve Base. Sascha Guk Right: One of three former French Army
SA342L-1 Gazelles is 5U-MHF (c/n 1531). Although the exact specifi cation of the
upgrades undertaken prior to delivery is unconfi rmed, all are believed to be fi tted
with a single 20mm cannon. Below: The two DA42 MPPs are fi tted with Goshawk
350 daylight video and thermal imaging equipment, plus a Scotty satellite
downlink system, and are primarily used in the surveillance and SAR roles. One
of the aircraft is due to receive a Wescam MX-15 HDi system or equivalent.
(50km) northwest of Niamey.
The FAN was in action again
on July 6 last year, when air
strikes killed 14 displaced people
mistaken for jihadists in the
restive southeast of the country,
an area where Boko Haram
has staged regular attacks. AFM