Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) Weekly Subject Experts’ Presentation was held at Hall D ML Agwai Block, Abuja. The only presentation for the day was made by the Subject Experts on Eastern Europe.
The weekly presentation by Brig Gen Ak Egwuagu (Rtd) subject experts on Eastern Europe Centered his presentation on how Ukraine War Exposes Flaws in us Weapons Systems. Since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, the US has been Ukraine’s single most important ally, providing her with a total of $107 billion in aid. In April 2024, the US supported Ukraine with weapons worth $61 billion in aid to boost Ukraine’s hard-pressed forces battling with the Russian invasion. According to Stacie Petty john, a military analyst at the Centre for a New American Security, the war has revealed that some of the US precision-guided munitions fail in a high contested electromagnetic environment. Analysts say the US is gaining invaluable insights into the flaws of some of its most important weapons and military production systems from Ukraine’s experience in the field.
In his analysis and lessons for Nigeria, Brig Gen Ak Egwuagu (Rtd) pointed that, Drawing lessons from the Russia/Ukraine war, drone deployment is assuming a very decisive role in reconnaissance and all other phases of war with minimal deployment of manpower which Nigeria needs to emulate. Learning from Ukraine’s experience in the use of American weapon systems, Nigeria needs to mobilize its defence industry into deep research and development of local missiles, drone weaponry and surveillance systems. Nigeria needs to also develop and expand its defence industrial production capability to meet up with the requirements of her military both in defence of the country as well as for counter insurgency measures and not to depend on supplies from other countries.
He recommended that, Federal Government of Nigeria through the DHQ and service chiefs should ensure the continuous training and retraining of military personnel on the use of drones, missiles and surveillance systems for optimum performance in the fight against insecurity and also the FGN and the Ministry of Science and Technology should invest heavily on the research and development of drones for application in urban planning, disaster management, healthcare, agriculture, weather forecasting, waste management, mining and telecommunications for local use as well as export purposes.
