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Subject: Nigeria buys F-7 Fighters from China
Uche    12/23/2005 1:31:54 PM
Something does not seem to add up with this picture. Why would a country with a bit of money to spend (being a member of OPEC) buy this sort of airplane as its frontline fighters?
 
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Carl S    RE:Nigeria buys F-7 Fighters from China   12/23/2005 4:22:14 PM
Bribery? ? ?
 
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Uche    RE:Nigeria buys F-7 Fighters from China   12/28/2005 1:00:43 AM
Well, bribery may be blamed but am more interested in knowing what military value the purchase of these planes represent for the country. I read that F-7s are Chinese knockoffs of Mig-21s with either French or Italian suites and that the Nigerians are ready are familiar with Mig-21s, thus suggesting a level of limited technical profficiency of its airforce, but given modern warfare, how does such a purchase make sense for a country that can afford to spend a bit more for its defense?
 
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Carl S    RE:Nigeria buys F-7 Fighters from China   12/28/2005 7:03:43 AM
The little I know about equitorial African nations defense needs suggest it makes no sense in strict military terms. Egos, politics, symbolisim may also be added to bribery. Then again perhaps Nigeria really does have some credible opponent which the F-7 would be usefull against.
 
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MadRat    RE:Nigeria buys F-7 Fighters from China   12/28/2005 9:20:10 AM
Nigeria doesn't in reality have much to spend on defense. I bet the terms are so favourable that they are almost free until upkeep costs get factored in.
 
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fitz    Nigeria has a credit problem   12/28/2005 9:59:00 AM
British Aerospace had to write off 20 million pounds owed for 20 years from the Jaguar deal as bad debt. They won't be selling Nigeria anything anytime soon. What else is avaiable? Mirage 2000? Rafale? Probably not. Any of the American teen series fighters? Definately not.
 
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Uche    RE:Nigeria buys F-7 Fighters from China   12/28/2005 3:26:47 PM
Carl S, I'm sure that the absence of a credible air threat may have informed the choice of Nigeria to buy the F-7 and also as some one else noted elsewhere on this thread, the good terms offered by the Chinese. No doubt, this purchase appears to be a replacement for Nigeria's Mig-21s. IMHO, it is not. As for the absence of significant threat I think it is foolish for countries to bank on this as a certainty in planning their defense needs. Relations and alliances and interests shift often. The Sudanese have better fighters than the crappy F-7s. So do the Angolans and South Africa.
 
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Uche    RE:Nigeria has a credit problem   12/28/2005 3:38:51 PM
I think the credit problem angle is just a red herring. No doubt, Nigeria is a poor country with financial/credit problems, but it has money to spend a minimum air defense to protects its oil assets. Recent oil price increases has also added to Nigeria's financial ability. As for the Jaguar deal I think it was a bad one from the beginning. I'm surprised that the Nigerians only witheld $20 million from the U.K. The jaguar planes (18) were bought from Britain in 1981 or thereabout when the Libyans were still active with spreading their revolutions and had also entered Chad, a neighboring country that borders Nigeria in the North. Well, those planes when they were delivered were not even armed or made to carry weapons. At least, that was wha the Nigerians claimed. All the same, I think that the Chinese F-8 or the Russian MiG-29 or the F-16 would have been a better buy and within the financial means of Nigeria to make than this purchase of F-7. I appreciate your response and those of others, though. Thanks for your participation.
 
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Heorot    RE:Nigeria buys F-7 Fighters from China   12/28/2005 3:48:37 PM
Uche, it doesn’t matter that Sudan has better aircraft than Nigeria, Sudan is not a neighbour country to Nigeria; Chad comes between them. All the F7 has to do is be better than the aircraft equipping Dahomey (no fighters), Niger(no fighters), Chad (2 Pilatus PC-7 Turbo-Trainers) or Cameroon (5 Alpha Jets). So, not much difficulty there then.
 
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Uche    RE:Nigeria buys F-7 Fighters from China   12/28/2005 3:51:52 PM
Also, want to add that buying a combination of gunship helicopters and the Hawk trainer would make more sense than this buy. That is if we are talking financial limitations and credit problem.
 
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Uche    RE:Nigeria buys F-7 Fighters from China   12/28/2005 4:06:04 PM
Heorot, thank for your reply. But methinks that your position raises a critical question for defense planners which is, should a country defense preparation and threat assessment be based on present or potential threat? I thin that the present threat assessment with regards to Nigeria supports your argument though I confess that I will like to be educated on how Chad being between Nigeria and Sudan secures Nigeria from Sudan's more portent fighters. Does this have to do solely with the range of the aircrafts? If so, can those limitations be easily corrected by a country bent on aggression and war of expropriation? I think that good defense planners should worry about present and future threats. It seems that it would be more cost effective to do so and one that should be lost on poor countries like Nigeria that despite limited means must prepare for warfare under modern conditions as the Chinese are wont to say. Cheers.
 
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