Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has said that the nation is presently saving about N38 million in foreign exchange, an amount it would have spent on importation six hydraulic accumulator diaphragms for each MI-35 helicopter gunship.
The diaphragms are currently being produced locally by the Nigerian Air Force.
Abubakar, who was speaking at the 9th Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Colloquium at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, disclosed that the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), also being manufactured locally, has capacity to be airborne for eight to 10 hours.
He said the UAVs can fly at an altitude of 10,000 feet and cruise speed of 55 knots, equivalent to 102-kilometre per hour when operational.
Delivering his keynote speech at the event tagged ‘Make it in Nigeria’, the Air Chief said that the NAF has through its research and development efforts and its partnership with 22 tertiary institutions in the country, manufactured six vital spare parts of aircraft locally .
In addition to saving the nation millions through the initiatives of looking inwards, Abubakar said the NAF was vigorously prosecuting the war against insurgency and militancy, without nursing the fear of aircraft being grounded because of lack of spare parts.
The Air Chief, who was one time in charge of research and development at NAF HQ, stated that the effectiveness of the NAF, in the long-term, depended on the extent of the growth of its home-based technology.
He words, “The research and development efforts of the Nigerian Air Force, in partnership with various tertiary institutions and other local organizations, have resulted in notable breakthroughs.
“First breakthrough has to do with the production of hydraulic accumulator diaphragms for MI-35 helicopters.”
“This is a very important component of the Mi-35 helicopter, which is one of the main platforms being employed in the Northeast. Aside from being very expensive, the diaphragm requires frequent replacements to assure safe conduct of flying operations.
“Often times, Mi-35 helicopters become grounded due to faulty hydraulic accumulator diaphragms.
“Efforts made to procure the diaphragm from the manufacturers of the helicopter revealed that it was scarce to source and very expensive.
“The NAF eventually had to procure six diaphragms only at the cost of $106,000. That situation led to the commencement of in-house research on the production of the diaphragm.
“In the course of the research, the NAF collaborated with some mechanical and rubber technologies outfits in the country, resulting in the production of the first prototype.
“Ever since, the production has undergone many modifications and I am glad to announce that we have now produced a better version of the one from the original equipment manufacturer at a cost of just N25,000.
“Second breakthrough has to do with the challenge of incompatibility of camera and multi-function display on Agusta 109 helicopter.
“The Agusta 109 helicopter is frequently employed in the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance role in the Northeast and other theatres of operation.
“The helicopter’s camera and its Multi-Function Display, which displays various aircraft parameters, were integrated by the Original Equipment Manufacturer.
“However, with time, a conflict arose between these systems with attendant adverse effect on operations.
“The foreign firm, which was contacted to rectify the snag, submitted a bill of N158 million, an amount that the NAF considered as being prohibitive.
“Consequently, the Nigerian Air Force, looking inwards, set up a Research and Development Committee led by Air Vice Marshal I Bukar, to try and rectify the snag.
“The committee was able to successfully separate the camera from the Multi-Function Display while providing an additional monitor for the camera.
“Both of them now work independently without any operational hitches and N5 million only was spent to accomplish this feat as against the N158 million that was demanded by the foreign firm.
“The F-7Ni aircraft is a fighter aircraft employed in deep interdiction role in the Northeast. Among the challenges faced in the operation of the aircraft was the maintenance of the Airborne Alkaline Batteries supplied by the Original Equipment Manufacturer.
“The battery had a service life of one year and shelf life of two years, making its durability very poor.
“The battery also required regular charging and topping of its electrolyte, which had to be procured from overseas.
“The impression given by the manufacturers was that the electrolyte had special additives and could neither be tampered with nor sourced locally.
“Meanwhile, the corrosive nature of the electrolyte made it difficult to import, as shippers were always reluctant to ship it, thereby leading to increased aircraft downtimes.
“To resolve the problem of electrolyte, which rendered most of the batteries un-useable, the NAF commissioned a Research and Development Team in collaboration with the Benue State University, Makurdi.
“The research team was able to successfully produce a replacement electrolyte for the F-7Ni aircraft batteries. It is gladdening to note that we do not import electrolyte for the F-7Ni aircraft batteries again.”
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