The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has handed over three Agusta Westland 109 Trekker helicopters to the Nigerian Navy (NN) at a brief ceremony held at the Caverton Helicopters Limited (CHL) hangar facilities in Ikeja, Lagos.
This was contained in a statement made available to defence correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday by Navy Commodore A. Adams-Aliu, Director of Naval Information.
According to the statement, the AW 109 Helicopter has a purpose-built VIP configuration with full leather and a noise attenuation system.
“Furthermore, the helicopter is designed with landing skids, which give it a better loading capacity compared to wheeled helicopters.”
“Additionally, the helicopter is designed with auxiliary tanks, which give it extended endurance of up to 3 hours 40 minutes.”
“Thus, the helicopter could be used for long-range transport flights. The helicopters could also be retrofitted with purpose-built mission equipment.”
The statement added that, while speaking at the brief ceremony, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, thanked the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his unflinching support to the Armed Forces in general and the Nigerian Navy in particular.
He also expressed gratitude to both the Minister of Defence and the Minister of State for Defence for facilitating the acquisition of the helicopters to boost NN operations, such as Air Recce, Search and Rescue, Air Insertion, and MEDEVAC.
The statement further noted that the CNS was accompanied by other senior officers to receive the newly acquired helicopters.
Also present at the handover ceremony were the Permanent Secretary, MOD, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana; Director of Navy Affairs, MOD, Dr Raji Isiaka Ogunshola; the President of Caverton Group, Chief Remi Makanjuola; and the Managing Director of Caverton, Group Captain Bello (rtd).
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