No Funds? Nigeria to Orders Additional JF-17 Thunders for its Air Force

The government of Nigeria has allocated 13.12 Naira, or $36 million, to place an order for three additional JF-17 Thunder light multirole fighters from the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. This follows the allocation of $13.9 to purchase the Pakistani fighters in 2016. The funds also cover supporting equipment, spare parts for maintenance. The JF-17 has been designed specifically to suit the needs of developing nations, and is among the lightest fighters of its kind in service. While retaining fourth generation radars and avionics and capable of deploying advanced modern missiles, the Pakistani fighter stands out for its low maintenance requirements and resulting low operational costs. Combined with the JF-17's low acquisition cost, the platform is in many ways ideal for countries with strained military budgets.

Nigeria has been forced to pay for the JF-17 in instalments due to its overstretched defence budget. The country's military expenditure remains low, particularly when considered relative to the size of the country's economy, and accounts for just 0.4% of GDP - among the lowest in the world. Reports indicate that corruption in the military leads to much of these funds being diverted away from the country's defence needs, and as a result the actual funds available for military acquisition and operations are significantly lower than expected. Nigeria's low defence spending is all the more remarkable considering that the country remains at war, and its military budget is largely appropriated by the ongoing struggle against the Boko Haram Islamic terror group - also known as Islamic State in West Africa. This leaves even less funds available for new acquisitions. Boko Haram has regularly seized large swathes of Nigerian territory, and has proven to be both heavily armed and very often well led. Since the overthrow of the Libyan government in 2011 at the hands of Islamist insurgent groups, much of the country's vast armoires were transferred to West Africa. The fall of Libya thus saw a resurgent in Boko Haram's military capabilities, which have stretched Nigeria's already scant military assets to the limit.

Nigeria alongside Myanmar has long shown interest in the JF-17, the only modern fighter platform that the country can afford to operate. With its ongoing war against insurgent forces, the Nigerian Air Force has invested more heavily in strike capabilities - including Russia's Mi-35M helicopters and Brazil's A-29 Super Tucano light strike fighter. The JF-17 was prized for its ability to operate as both an anti aircraft and ground attack platform, and is the most cost effective fighters capable of fulfilling an air to air combat role.

Pakistan Air Force Air Commodore (AC) Kaiser Tufail stated in regards to sales of the JF-17 to Nigeria and the country's choice to pay for the fighter in instalments: "Nigerian Air Force has taken an incremental approach to the induction of the JF-17. Considering the fact that it does not operate an advanced modern fighter other than a dozen (second generation) F-7NI, it seems sensible to have ordered three-odd JF-17, on which maintenance crews would get trained, followed by pilots that will form the core and be available for follow-on inductions. Financially, it also makes sense to stagger the purchase so that it can be funded from within own resources, rather than overburdening the economy by taking loans.” Tufali continued, regarding Nigeria's potential purchase of both Block-II as well as more advanced Block-III fighters: “From an operational standpoint, a small purchase of the existing Block-II aircraft leaves open the option of inducting Block-III, which is likely to be available in about two years or so. During this time the NAF would have set up the basic infrastructure and trained sufficient pilots to induct the more advanced version of the JF-17.” The Commodore noted that it was expected that other African countries would follow on from Nigeria to acquire the low cost and versatile Pakistani platform in future.