The second batch of the A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets acquired by the federal government to boost the war against insurgency and banditry has departed the United States for Nigeria, THISDAY has learnt.
THISDAY gathered that a group of pilots flying the six A-29 aircraft from Georgia to Nigeria stopped over in the city of Worcester to refuel Wednesday night before taking off again on Thursday.
The United States Government had earlier promised that the six remaining A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets would arrive in Nigeria this month (September).
The six planes are designed for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance missions.
The first batch of the attack aircraft had earlier been delivered by the US and have since been inducted into the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) order of battle by President Muhammadu Buhari and United States government officials at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
THISDAY gathered that the military planes are unable to fly across the Atlantic Ocean and have opted for a North Atlantic route, hopping to multiple spots to refuel with Worcester being one of the places to stop over and refuel.
The initial six delivered by the US flew through five countries, including Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and Algeria before arriving at their final destination in Nigeria towards the end of July.
The planes refueled at Rectrix in the Worcester Regional Airport in the United States.
The A-29 Super Tucano, designed by the Sierra Nevada Corporation in Sparks, Nevada, are light attack aircraft to be deployed by the NAF in the fight against terrorism in the country.
Worcester Telegram reported that the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, a Worcester native, was in town for her high school reunion at Doherty Memorial High School.
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