The United States is working to finalize a deal to sell A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to the government of Nigeria, the Associated Press reported Monday. The agreement would send 12 A-29s to Nigeria for a cost of $600 million in order to support the government’s fight against extremist group Boko Haram. Nigeria has been seeking such a deal for several years, and President Barack Obama had been planning to complete the sale before the end of his administration, according to the AP. Now the Trump Administration is looking to pick up where its predecessor left off. In recent years, the Air Force has sold A-29s to Afghanistan and Lebanon to support their fights against the Taliban and ISIS, and has trained Afghan and Lebanese pilots to fly Super Tucano’s at the 81st Fighter Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga. In February, then-chief of Air Combat Command Gen. Hawk Carlisle also warned that Nigeria is a likely destination for extremist militants fleeing the current ISIS strongholds of Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria, as US-led coalitions work to defeat ISIS there and retake those cities.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed to undertake far-reaching reforms on the way the U.S. military buys weapons, promising a sweeping overhaul of the way the Defense Department determines requirements, handles the acquisition process, and tests its kit. The fundamental goal, which Hegseth underscored in a 1-hour and 10-minute speech…
