Buhari unveils indigenous drone in Kaduna
As part of the federal government efforts to tackle insecurity in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has unveiled a surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) produced locally by the Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology.
The UAC codenamed TSAIGUMI will be used to fight terrorism, armed banditry, and other sophisticated crimes through enhanced air surveillance.
The president also inspected 10 Super Mushshak aircraft recently procured by the Nigerian Air Force from Pakistan.
Speaking at the occasion, Buhari reiterated the commitment and determination of his administration to bring about the desired change for the country.
The president expressed his satisfaction with efforts of the current leadership of NAF saying, the significance of the milestone of national technological development cannot be over-estimated.
He said the UAV can loiter and maintain an “‘unblinking stare” over a chosen area for hours. “Thanks to the ability to ‘watch and wait’, its operator, often miles away, can provide a continuous stream of vital information on enemy activities and if the platform is weaponised, it patiently chooses the best moment to engage,” he said.
He said the capacity for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance provided by the TSAIGUMI will boost ongoing and future security operations.
Earlier, Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar said, the desire to have battlespace dominance and awareness has increased especially with the increasing complexity of contemporary security challenges and the moral burden that has been placed on professional Armed Forces to conduct military operations with precision and minimum collateral damage.
The CAS said some of the physical and performance parameters of the TSAIGUMI including wingspan of 5.16 metres and a maximum take-off mass of 95kg, Electro-Optic/Infra-Red (EO/ IR) camera system while its engine runs on a 50:1 MOGAS/Oil mixture.
He said it requires only 300 metres of a runway for operation, with a mission range of 100km, a service ceiling at 15,000 feet and operational endurance of about 10 hours. The performance parameters and operational characteristics would make this platform a critical component of NAF ISR architecture.