The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, says future air warfare in the country will revolve around intelligence gathering, surveillance, rapid mobility, precision attack, and the use of unarmed aircraft.

Mr Abubakar stated this to journalists shortly after presenting a lecture to participants of Senior Course 46 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) Jaji on Thursday.

The lecture was on “The Future of Air Warfare in the Nigerian Air Force – My Command Philosophy.”

The CAS said the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) would deploy all assets and personnel to counter internal and external threats to national security.

He added that the NAF would intensify collaboration with other security services and engage in strategic alliances with other countries.

Mr Abubakar said strategic alliance was critical in achieving the objectives of ensuring the country’s security.

“There is no service or nation that can do everything all by itself. There are a lot of strategies that can be derived from collaboration, joint operations, and cooperation,” he added.

Mr Abubakar noted that the armed forces had, in the past, not taken advantage of the opportunities in jointness.

“The armed forces have woken up to realise the critical need for jointness in achieving set objectives of securing the country against adversaries,” he stated.

The CAS said as part of a strategic alliance,  Nigeria would work with the Czech Republic to train NAF personnel.

“We have also started such alliances with other countries such as Pakistan, China, Egypt, and many other countries.

“I think that is the way, going forward, because there are several advantages to be derived from such collaborations and cooperations,” he said.

Mr Abubakar believes that going forward, Nigeria would benefit immensely from such alliances.

The air chief added that other key enablers of his command philosophy were the focus on research and development and the use of technology.

He stressed that the NAF, as a very technical force, needed to intensify research and development activities to maintain its facilities and fabricate appropriate ones to enhance national security.

(NAN)