As ‘Bandits’ Target NAF Jets

IN THE ARENA

The downing of Nigerian Air Force Alpha Jet by bandits last Sunday has raised concerns over the growing capacity of non-state actors to acquire sophisticated weapons to fight the state, Louis Achi writes

Air power in history has been a decisive and critical factor in determining the outcome of any war or territorial conflict. It is a fundamental component of the military element of national power. The capability of every air force globally is measured by the number of serviceable aircraft in its inventory and the professional competence of its airmen.

Hence, when a grave incident such as the recent downing of a Nigerian Air Force Alpha fighter jet in Zamfara State, by hostile enemy occurs, it is usually taken very seriously.

NAF confirmed the crash in a Monday statement by its spokesperson, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, who stated there was no casualty as the pilot, Flt. Lt. Abayomi Dairo, escaped enemy fire and ground efforts to capture him. The latest incident makes it at least four air crashes involving Nigerian military planes in the last seven months.

Obviously, the quick response of NAF Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms and helicopter gunships which provided close air support to NAF Special Forces and Nigerian Army troops who were able to locate the crash site and the pilot’s parachute, disrupted the bandits’ intense efforts to capture the pilot.

US-based Nigerian scholar and analyst, Farouq Kperogi pilloried the Nigerian media for not calling out terror bandits for what they are, and insisting that those who have the will and the means to shoot down an Alpha Jet are not bandits but terrorists.

Dairo, in his personal account of the incident, also described the so-called bandits as ruthless like Boko Haram, and wondered why they were described as bandits.

Kperogi’s position naturally draws public attention to the kind of weapons that could have been deployed to shoot down a fighter jet aircraft like a feisty Alpha.

The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet aircraft and advanced trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. According to Wikipedia, it was developed specifically to perform trainer and light attack missions.

It was first test-flown on October 26, 1973 and formally introduced into service in November 4, 1977 with almost 500 units manufactured since then.
Both the French and German air forces procured the Alpha Jet in large numbers, the former principally as a trainer aircraft and the latter choosing to use it as a light attack platform. The Alpha Jet has been adopted by a number of air forces across the world, including Nigeria, Thailand, Belgium, Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Qatar and Togo and has also seen active combat use by some of these operators.

Unlike military tanks, fighter aircraft cannot be downed by Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs) – a shoulder-fired missile that delivers explosive warhead aided by rocket propulsion. RPGs today are commonly seen with Boko Haram insurgents, bandits, militants and military personnel. RPGs are frequently used as anti-tank weapons and not anti-aircraft weaponry.

To swathe a military jet fighter from the skies – or unthinkably a civilian aircraft – anti-aircraft missiles are needed and this must have been the weapons used by the so-called bandits to down the NAF jet. According to NATO, the weapons of choice in destroying airborne threats include air-to-air, surface-to-air and underwater-to-air missiles. The other extreme option is to zap the target with laser guns from orbiting vehicles.

The successful downing of NAF’s Alpha jet on Sunday, suggests the so-called bandits must have employed a surface (or ground)-to-air missiles (SAMs) which is usually a guided weapon and this implies some alarming sophistication.

More, anti-aircraft warfare and weaponry are very expensive, denominated in Dollar cost. SAM prices are derived from the sophistication of their guidance systems, mobility, altitude and range. If the bandits currently ravaging the nation’s ungoverned spaces could actually acquire these weapons, then Nigerians should even be more worried. It would then mean they could also acquire ground-to-ground missiles which would effectively bring Abuja (or any choice Nigerian city) within their strike range.

And if indeed bandits or terrorist groups should gain this capability, it means they are being funded by very rich, shadowy forces. Going forward, nothing stops them from securing deadlier weapons to expand their depravity and territorial reach. These funding sources must be destroyed.

It could be recalled that the arrest, swift prosecution and sentencing of six Boko Haram sponsors in the United Arab Emirates last year exposed Nigeria’s puzzling failure to frontally confront its home-grown terrorism.

It is crucial that the current government should squarely face the stark reality. Indisputably, anti-terrorism war cannot be concluded by military confrontation alone. A multi-pronged strategy combining intelligence, effective law enforcement, international cooperation, prosecution and blockage of the sources of funding, arms and logistics of terrorist networks is imperative. These shadowy operators were convicted for funding Boko Haram through money transfers from Dubai to Nigeria; two of the felons were jailed for life and four to 10 years apiece.

Through the bureau de change they operated, they wired a total of $782,000 to the terror group in 2019. The UAE security agents reportedly broke up the funding ring through undercover policing and monitoring of financial transactions.

In Nigeria, political considerations would have coloured an otherwise straightforward procedure and therefore rendered necessary counter-measures ineffective. While strident rhetoric has proved ineffective, hope likewise is certainly not a plan.