Air Force
The Nigerian Air Force was formally established in January 1964 with technical assistance from West Germany. The air force started life as a transport unit with aircrew being trained in Canada, Ethiopia and India. The air force did not get a combat capability until a number of MiG-17 aircraft were presented by the Soviet Union in 1966.
In 2007 the Air Force had a strength of 10,000. It flies transport, trainer, helicopter, and fighter aircraft, of which the IISS says there is 'very limited operational capability.'
The Air Force sponsors the Air Force Military School, Jos, Nigeria.
Nigeria also has pursued a policy of developing domestic training and military production capabilities. Nigeria has continued a strict policy of diversification in her military procurement from various countries.
Read more about this topic: Nigerian Armed Forces
Famous quotes containing the words air and/or force:
“All things are flowing, even those that seem immovable. The adamant is always passing into smoke. The plants imbibe the materials which they want from the air and the ground. They burn, that is, exhale and decompose their own bodies into the air and earth again. The animal burns, or undergoes the like perpetual consumption. The earth burns, the mountains burn and decompose, slower, but incessantly.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.”
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881)