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Nigerian Airforce Transforms EC-135 Utility Helicopter Into A Military Grade Helicopter (PHOTOS)
There are lots of innovation happening in our military that are underreported, this is due to the fact that most of the happenings are classified and meant for national security.
In 2019, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) inducted another EC-135 helicopter, NAF 549, into service after it was reactivated in-country by NAF personnel in collaboration with technical experts from outside Nigeria.
The helicopter is a Eurocopter (Airbus) EC135T2+ also tagged as EC-135 Helicopter, NAF 549, was handed over to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) after being morbid in its hangar for long.
For clarity, the armed configuration of the EC-135 is a machine gun. The Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System(APKWS) which shall enter into service later cannot be fitted because the software module is not installed, this has been taken care of and being inducted into the airforce fleets.
The reactivation of NAF 549, which has been unserviceable since June 2013 before being handed over to the NAF in 2016, commenced on 10 January 2018. A critical assessment of the helicopter took place and work was completed in June 2019. The helicopter is one of three EC-135s inherited by the NAF from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The other two EC-135s, NAF 547 and NAF 548 have been reactivated in-country and have since been deployed for operations.
See the newly transformed photos done by the NAF engineers
