U.S. approves $1 billion arms sale to Nigeria

The U.S. government has announced that it has approved the sale of attack aircraft and other equipment to Nigeria.

The aircraft are expected to be used against terrorists and other gunmen operating in Nigeria.

This was confirmed by a statement Thursday by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

It said the equipment are to cost Nigeria about $997 million.

The acquisition of the aircraft and other equipment comes less than a year after the U.S. government supplied the country with 12 units of super tucano aircrafts paid for by Nigeria.

According to the Thursday statement, the equipment requested to be purchased by the Nigerian government include 12 AH-1Z Attack Helicopters; twenty-eight (28) T-700 GE 401C engines (24 installed, 4 spares); and two thousand (2,000) Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guidance sections.

Others are Night Vision Cueing Display (NVCD); commercial variant GPS with Standard Positioning Service (SPS), and communication equipment.

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The equipment also include electronic warfare systems; AN/AVS-9 Aviator’s Night Vision Imaging System; M197 20mm machine gun; Target Sight System (TSS); support equipment; spare engine containers; spare and repair parts; tools and test equipment; technical data and publication.

The statement said the sum to be paid by Nigeria also covers the training of personnel in handling the equipment.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a strategic partner in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The proposed sale will better equip Nigeria to contribute to shared security objectives, promote regional stability and build interoperability with the U.S. and other Western partners.

“This sale will be a major contribution to U.S. and Nigerian security goals. Nigeria will have no difficulty absorbing the equipment and services into its armed force,” the statement read.

The U.S. also stated that training of Nigerian officials for the maintenance of the equipment will be for a period of five years and will require approximately three contractor support representatives to reside in Nigeria for a period of two years.