Nigerian Super Tucanos

Nigeria will base its 12 new Super Tucano light attack/trainer aircraft at Kainji Air Base in the west of the country.

This emerged from a notice posted on the US Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website on 18 April, which said the announcement was part of a market research effort to gather information for planning purposes related to construction projects.

US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) USACE Europe District intends to issue one or more solicitations to obtain construction services for the A-29 Programme Beddown at Kainji Airbase in Nigeria, Africa. These construction projects will be 100% Design-Bid-Build and full designs will be posted with the solicitations, the FBO notice read. The solicitation(s) will be announced around January 2020.

The US Government intends to award up to three separate construction contracts to accomplish the projects.

“At this time the anticipated construction magnitude for all three projects combined is between $25,000,000 and $100,000,000,” the FBO stated.

The proposed construction consists of infrastructure and facilities to support the A-29 aircraft and munitions at Kainji Air Base. The construction of these required facilities includes three separate packages of deliverables. This includes the conversion of an existing runway hammerhead into a temporary arm/de-arm location; a complete retrofitting of an auxiliary parking apron to a tie-down and grounding area; providing a temporary structure to house aircraft; providing a temporary structure for secure storage; construction of a new chain link perimeter fence with a minimum length of approximately 12 km; construction of a munitions storage area (MSA) consisting of earth cover magazines, security, observation tower, and power; construction of a permanent arm/de-arm pad; and improvements to the two base entry control points.

Other work to be done covers renovations to existing aircraft hangars, air traffic control infrastructure, and parking apron.

Kainji Air Base is located in the western state of Niger at the southern end of Kainji Lake and is currently the home of the Nigerian Air Force’s 407 Air Combat Training Group.

On 28 November 2018 the United States Department of Defence placed the $329 million contract with Sierra Nevada Corporation to manufacture the NAF’s 12 Super Tucano. The contract is worth $329 076 750 for the aircraft, although the total not-to-exceed amount is approved at $344 727 439 and is to include Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) systems for six of the aircraft. These systems will be funded soon after the initial contract award.

The Department of Defence said that work is expected to be completed in May 2024.

This article was published by our partner defencWeb on April 25, 2019.