As the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) develops its capability for future air combat, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, the CAS, claims that his leadership philosophy is essential.
According to him, the goal of his command philosophy was to make the NAF nimble and robust so that it could successfully meet the airpower requirements of national security in all operational settings.
In his presentation entitled “The Future of Air Warfare in the Nigerian Air Force – My Command Philosophy,” Abubakar made these remarks on Thursday in Kaduna State at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji.
He mentioned this in a statement released on Thursday in Abuja by Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, the NAF’s director of public relations and information.
Any military forces that don’t plan for the likely future, according to Abubakar, would always take a reactive rather than a proactive stance on matters of national security.
The CAS stated that a variety of factors, including internal and external threats to national security, the state of the economy, and the air power capabilities of the Service, will define the form of future air combat.
According to him, the NAF under his direction would replace its medium and heavy airlift capabilities with unmanned aerial vehicles in order to move more quickly and effectively. They would also use them for real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance as well as precision strikes.
The first-ever capabilities-based assessment of the NAF was being worked on, he continued, and it would improve the Service’s operational performance in both current and future air combat.
Abubakar added that under his leadership, the NAF’s human capacity development was purposefully geared towards completing given objectives and closing existing and upcoming deficiencies in the NAF’s capabilities.
He said that 1,476 people were now engaged in various local and international training courses in order to meet the NAF’s present and future air combat needs.
“All course selections will be made on the basis of merit, ensuring that only the most qualified candidates are chosen to give the NAF value for money.
“NAF is implementing a comprehensive system for planning aircraft maintenance, which requires that all the consumables and spare parts needed for upcoming aircraft inspections over the course of the next four quarters be collated in advance and processed right away.
In order to achieve national security goals, he remarked, “this will invariably ensure that aircraft were available for quick combat against enemies.”
In addition to exploiting cutting-edge technologies, Abubakar claimed that NAF had continued to make substantial progress towards domestic manufacturing of necessary skills.
He claims that NAF has been producing a range of military hardware through the Air Force Research and Development Centre to support counterterrorism and counterinsurgency activities.
He continued by saying that NAF had kept a highly motivated force by improving employee welfare and investing in infrastructure renewal to enable staff to achieve individual organisational goals.
According to him, this prompted him to decide to form a committee of officers to determine the NAF’s accommodation shortfall in order to resolve the persisting issue.
The aviation chief added that all staff members will receive brand-new uniforms and accessories once a year and that all entitlement payments were being made on time.
He asserts that these initiatives would ensure that NAF troops are psychologically prepared for air combat both now and in the future.
Abubakar claimed that initiatives were being taken to solve the issues impeding the NAF’s operational effectiveness in order to improve its combat readiness for upcoming conflicts.
He reaffirmed the NAF’s resolve to overcoming the obstacles and enhancing its combat preparedness for both on-going and upcoming conflicts. (NAN)
