krattoss:
Goddammit.
It's time to make go all out on every goddam moving object in that hellhole of north east.

clap for yourself

EricBloodAxe:


I don't think it would cost $1bn to hire mercenaries who can get the job done. While planning long-term as you rightly put it, we need a solution that works and we need it right now.

If you continue with stupid talk of mercenaries we will insult you. Please be warned.

EricBloodAxe:


I don't think it would cost $1bn to hire mercenaries who can get the job done. While planning long-term as you rightly put it, we need a solution that works and we need it right now.

Once more, this government condemned the last one for making use of PMCs. They would have to swallow their pride and make this move. Honestly, i dont see this happening, rather the status quo would be maintained. This is why we should aqcuire these platforms in large numbers rather than in small piece meal. 20 of the MI-35M wont hurt our economy.

Good luck to our servicemen on the war front.

nemesis8u:
The irony

During the 2nd gulf war a Apache attack helicopter was shot down by a iraqi farmer using his hunting rifle and that too a hit by a single .308 bullet was all it took to bring the Apache down.

The World is not about facts , the world is all about possibilities.

Don't understand the hard and fast rule type of mentality here

MI35 is a good as it gets for its class , and on a bad day it can get shot down too. The lives of the crew matter most , they should have survived .

If it was not mechanical failure, they obviously did not use the full capabilities of MI 35M. They did not use their sensors adequately and/or they were probably starved of standoff weapons like longer range Iglala missiles on this mission.

They used MI 35M chopper like MI 35P

Thats a lot of young lives and USD35m down the drain.

SternProphet:


If you continue with stupid talk of mercenaries we will insult you. Please be warned.

Who be this one? Boy park well. Faceless forum don't mean you can't get ur ass whooped. Be warned!

persius555:


Once more, this government condemned the last one for making use of PMCs. They would have to swallow their pride and make this move. Honestly, i dont see this happening, rather the status quo would be maintained. This is why we should aqcuire these platforms in large numbers rather than in small piece meal. 20 of the MI-35M wont hurt our economy.

Good luck to our servicemen on the war front.

But unfortunately our available platforms keep falling into bokoharam hands. It's either that or other avoidable disasters like the NAF heli recently. So what's the way forward with all these disasters?

N

nemesis8u:


Nothing is so obvious in life , forget about anything as demanding as in a real combat or operational scenario.

Analysis of Flight data recorder should reveal the cause and chain of events.

Anyways u will be tearing off your hair's if u knew the peacetime attrition rate of iaf helicopters.

It's part of the game , attrition in war is a two way street , someday it will hit u , even the best of platforms.

Personally don't give a fucck about a helicopter - it's replaceable , the loss of the crew is the biggest loss, it ain't especially the experience .

Exactly. In a sane world $35 million should mean nothing to the Nigerian economy, we should be able to purchase 25 of these helicopters or even the Mi-28 at a go in multi billion dollar contracts, but in Nigeria the military isn’t given that level of importance of priority.

jakeporeshenko:


Exactly. In a sane world $35 million should mean nothing to the Nigerian economy, we should be able to purchase 25 of these helicopters or even the Mi-28 at a go in multi billion dollar contracts, but in Nigeria the military isn’t given that level of importance of priority.

Tell me about it
All democracies suffer from it , penny wise pound foolish.

nemesis8u:


Tell me about it
All democracies suffer from it , penny wise pound foolish.

When the men tasked with ensuring that a conflict comes to an end start to benefit from said conflict then said conflict will not come to an end.



If I was the Buhari, I would make sure it was in the interest of every Nigerian for Boko Haram insurgency to go away for good... war is a very powerful political and economic tool!

X

Let us appreciate them while they are still alive and long after they are no more. God bless our angels in the sky !

jakeporeshenko:


Exactly. In a sane world $35 million should mean nothing to the Nigerian economy, we should be able to purchase 25 of these helicopters or even the Mi-28 at a go in multi billion dollar contracts, but in Nigeria the military isn’t given that level of importance of priority.

25 orders per year in the next three years wouldn't be a bad idea.This piece of flying beast has proven to be a reliable asset in times most needed.
We could adopt the MI-35M as the A-Jet of the NAF rotor asset. With 75 of this in our arsenal, our overzealous neighbors would have a rethink in attempting any tank invasion across our large expansive land border.

Training of our airmen wont be a problem as there are lots of countries that are combat familiar with this machine.

nemesis8u:


Previously I had written something on how conflicts if allowed to survive long enough.........

which I deleted later on

Did I read it ?

That was from my own experience and there r times when I wish I was oblivious to the reality.

Yeah I saw it, it’s a heavy accusation and I’ll delete soon but how do you explain the defensive nature of the NA ? So unwilling to finish the fight, deal the decisive blow. The counterinsurgency efforts in this country seem too sustainable and that’s a bad thing! A conclusive offensive should be planned and carried out.

Henry240:

We desperately need to invest in training.

We need to invest all round.

The issue is, some here air their opinion with a spice of malice & ill-will

But laslas, e go better

EricBloodAxe:


Who be this one? Boy park well. Faceless forum don't mean you can't get ur ass whooped. Be warned!

You be warned. If your locally bred and educated mind cannot proffer better solutions than paying 500 mercenaries $10m a month to chase 10,000 zealots who are in it for life then you SHUT UP.

The brain is a free resource. We need to use it.

HORRORIZON:


Compared to what they can be buying and using but are too corrupt and careless to do so; yup JUNK! I'm not trying to be vindictive; I'm not even Nigerian, hell I'm not even African.. and Nigeria as a whole, in all of it's realms of performance pisses me off. Over the past 18 years of observation I really expected much much better out if that nation by now. I feal sorry for you guys who have no choice but to deal with all of that triflingness that goes on there, and just hope and pray on the seemingly mythical better time that looks as though will never come.

But u re african American

Odunayaw:
We need to invest all round.

The issue is, some here air their opinion with a spice of malice & ill-will

But laslas, e go better

When e wan better, i don tire.

There is no end in-sight. Labour is even about to shut the country down.

Gentle men, I have led this argument for PMCs as military advisers for about a decade now.
If you are not at the war front in the north east as we speak, you can save the insults. I see iswap' assault on northern Nigeria, the same vein as ISIS assault on the Iraqi and Syrian armies.

Both armies are better than NA, were nearly overrun but for the infusion of mercenaries and military advisors with NATO then eventually Russian air forces in tow.

US green berets and Iranian quds force and eventually Russian spetznaz.

So since nigeria is not as important to the powers that be as Iraq, us and U.K. May do training,but nothing more. They would
Not even approach what the French routinely does for her west African allies.

This were a reputable PMC comes into play as embedded advisors. To properly deploy and utilize the tools that we have in the most effective way.

This could be STTEP or Eric prince blackwater

NA would benefit greatly from training and advice in the field

jakeporeshenko:


Exactly. In a sane world $35 million should mean nothing to the Nigerian economy, we should be able to purchase 25 of these helicopters or even the Mi-28 at a go in multi billion dollar contracts, but in Nigeria the military isn’t given that level of importance of priority.

I think that if the government wants to embark on an all round rearmament programme, they will do it without hassle. Heck, the executive pulled out $1bln for weapon purchase last year and NASS couldn't do shiit. I just hope this Buhari performs better in his second term, because, like you said and like we have been saying for years, there is nothing wrong in investing $3bln per year on our military for the next 10 years. We can afford it, so why not.


Another thing is, I don't understand why the military brass cannot go in front of NASS and beg for funding. It's not their job to be keeping malice with Saraki or Dogara, it's the job of the politicians.

[s]

SternProphet:


You be warned. If your locally bred and educated mind cannot proffer better solutions than paying 500 mercenaries $10m a month to chase 10,000 zealots who are in it for life then you SHUT UP.

The brain is a free resource. We need to use it.

[/s]

You're very foolish. So far I've seen the solutions you've been proffering wit that empty head of urs. If my opinion causes u severe heartburns then you can kill urslf. And don't quote me again u simpleton.

doziex:
Gentle men, I have led this argument for PMCs as military advisers for about a decade now.
If you are not at the war front in the north east as we speak, you can save the insults. I see iswap' assault on northern Nigeria, the same vein as ISIS assault on the Iraqi and Syrian armies.

Both armies are better than NA, were nearly overrun but for the infusion of mercenaries and military advisors with NATO then eventually Russian air forces in tow.

US green berets and Iranian quds force and eventually Russian spetznaz.

So since nigeria is not as important to the powers that be as Iraq, us and U.K. May do training,but nothing more. They would
Not even approach what the French routinely does for her west African allies.

This were a reputable PMC comes into play as embedded advisors. To properly deploy and utilize the tools that we have in the most effective way.

This could be STTEP or Eric prince blackwater

NA would benefit greatly from training and advice in the field

I see someone who has solutions. This is what am saying...our military top brass has failed. We can keep on budgeting huge sums for more Sophisticated arms and platforms but does it change the outcome in the battlefield? We need help from outsources. Let's leave pride and do the right thing.

doziex:
Gentle men, I have led this argument for PMCs as military advisers for about a decade now.
If you are not at the war front in the north east as we speak, you can save the insults. I see iswap' assault on northern Nigeria, the same vein as ISIS assault on the Iraqi and Syrian armies.

Both armies are better than NA, were nearly overrun but for the infusion of mercenaries and military advisors with NATO then eventually Russian air forces in tow.

US green berets and Iranian quds force and eventually Russian spetznaz.

So since nigeria is not as important to the powers that be as Iraq, us and U.K. May do training,but nothing more. They would
Not even approach what the French routinely does for her west African allies.

This were a reputable PMC comes into play as embedded advisors. To properly deploy and utilize the tools that we have in the most effective way.

This could be STTEP or Eric prince blackwater

NA would benefit greatly from training and advice in the field

Nothing wrong with bringing in mercenaries to train specialized units of the army. I think STTEP trained a special taskforce in 2014, that unit was very crucial to the famous 6 weeks offensive. I think they used South African made Reva MRAPs and were very feared. We haven't heard of them these past years.

We can replicate that on a more massive scale, what these guys need is proper training. Bring in the mercenaries, let them train for 8 months and then equip them, we will see results. But allowing mercenaries fight is what may not go down well with people,especially since this government wasn't in support of it when it was introduced. They will certainly be reluctant to call in mercenaries.

EVarn:


Nothing wrong with bringing in mercenaries to train specialized units of the army. I think STTEP trained a special taskforce in 2014, that unit was very crucial to the famous 6 weeks offensive. I think they used South African made Reva MRAPs and were very feared. We haven't heard of them these past years.

We can replicate that on a more massive scale, what these guys need is proper training. Bring in the mercenaries, let them train for 8 months and then equip them, we will see results. But allowing mercenaries fight is what may not go down well with people,especially since this government wasn't in support of it when it was introduced. They will certainly be reluctant to call in mercenaries.

This is the sense some people fail to have.
Mercenaries to fight the whole shebang? How about a mercenary president too
laslas, this group has been here many times

RIP to the crew we lost

L

frumentius:
RIP to the Nigerian grunts paying the price when the top brass and politicians aren't affected.
Anybody wanting to understand what's going on needs to read closely these 3 articles which I've shared before:

https://peccaviconsulting./2018/09/17/battle-of-the-fobs-boko-haram-iswaps-2018-rainy-season-offensive-1/

https://peccaviconsulting./2018/09/27/battle-of-the-fobs-boko-haram-iswaps-2018-rainy-season-offensive-2/

https://peccaviconsulting./2018/11/30/game-changers-in-the-north-eastern-nigerian-security-situation/

Frum we are left with two options

(1) Reduce/Stop the FOBs we open haphazardly,
Down side; inadvertently give ISWAP/BH chance to roam & maybe go bolder to drive inward
Upside; Lesser stupid death & opportunity to reconsolidate

2) Withdraw troops from mundane policing duties around the country to shore up numbers

Down side; They continue status quo of stupidity & we continue this attrition
Upside; Only more hands for R&R

Money has never being an issue in Nigeria, If FG is serious in raising solid fund to buy equipments and invest in personnel training they have to think outside the box, like I suggested here before, FG can secretly raise humongous funds from the citizens in a way that nobody will know or feel it.
Example: put a tax of say, N2 for every liter of fuel, we consume 60million litres daily which equals to N120m per day, in a year we will raise an equivalent of $120m from that product alone, then we can do same for all online transaction let's say N5 for every transaction both foreign and local walahi the money we will generate will totally revamp the military effortlessly in 2018 alone online transactions to the tune of N90trillion was made across all platforms now do the maths.
With that our troops can get the best of training any nation can think of, get the best of equipment any country can boast of, all these are only possible when we think outside the box, $1b is too miserable to build a 21st century military from the scratch, infact we need to spend that much year on defence alone for the next atleast 7years to measure up with other militaries even in Africa before talking about the world. We need leaders both political and Military with sound ideas.

J

nemesis8u:


If I were were in charge I would not go for maintenance intensive platforms , I would go for platforms which can operate and be maintained with minimal effort and turnaround time and cheap enough to procure in bulk so they can be deployed at fobs etc in strength

in this age availability of low cost precision weapons can easily counter low weapons load as long as it can destroy the technicals at stand off range with high first round hit probability.

BH uses the technicals as it pivots around which the foot soldiers maneuver, take it out on first sight , rest of the forces will melt away

I am surprised no effective counter to technicals specifically has been sought till date.

As I am

QuietMynd:

But u re african American

Black-American, not African.

EricBloodAxe:


Dude the money spent in fighting this war for almost a decade now without any meaningful progress only goes to show that the NA is incompetent and needs total overhauling. From the onset all we've ever heard has been lack of weapons and yet army bases keep getting sacked and weapons get looted by insurgents. Makes one wonder if it's the lack of adequate sophisticated weapons or lack of combat training and bravery that's causing us this war. I really suggest the government leverages on it's ego and do what the past government did when it was losing territory by contracting foreign mercenaries. The South African STTEP run by Eeben Barlow saw the Nigerian Army regaining it's lost territory and personnel morale got boosted. It's either that or nothing because we can't keep on running in circles. The last $1bn was released to the army last year for equipment purchases but yet our soldiers got killed like flies and bases got overran. Let's stop wasting our lean resources and actually invest in a solution that works.

I thought coas said the 1bn has not been released

nemesis8u:


If I were were in charge I would not go for maintenance intensive platforms , I would go for platforms which can operate and be maintained with minimal effort and turnaround time and cheap enough to procure in bulk so they can be deployed at fobs etc in strength

in this age availability of low cost precision weapons can easily counter low weapons load as long as it can destroy the technicals at stand off range with high first round hit probability.

BH uses the technicals as it pivots around which the foot soldiers maneuver, take it out on first sight , rest of the forces will melt away

I am surprised no effective counter to technicals specifically has been sought till date.

This is one of the most intelligent and useful comments I have ever come across regarding this Boko Haram debacle.