NIMASA deliveries
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has taken delivery of three Leonardo AW109SP helicopters. The helicopters were seen unloaded at a Nigerian port on 30 March 2021.
According to the information, NIMASA had ordered three AW109SPs. The delivered helicopters have received serials NN313 to NN315, and will be used as part of the Deep Blue maritime security project and will operate alongside the special mission aircraft (Citation CJ3) and Unmanned Aerial System (UAS).
In the final quarter of 2020, three AW109s were noted undergoing test flights from Vergiate (Italy). Their test registration are CSX81988 (construction number 22421), CSX81994 (c/n 22424) and CSX81999 (c/n 22425). In a video release from NIMASA, NN313 is confirmed as c/n 22421 and NN315 is confirmed as c/n 22425. So the third one, NN314, is c/n 22424.
Also one of the two ordered NIMASA Cessna Citation CJ3s arrived in Nigeria on 12 May 2021. Scramble Magazine reported 25 February 2021 and 9 March 2021 on the two aircraft. The Citations were modified with maritime surveillance equipment by Bird Aerosystems in southern Israel. Citation 4X-CML (c/n 525B-0203) was officially revealed with Nigerian Air Force (NAF) serial NAF957. The future NAF serial of the other Citation (c/n 525B-0349) is not known yet.
Earlier, Scramble Magazine reported that all NIMASA aircraft were part of the Nigerian Air Force, but this seemed not to be completely correct. The helicopters are part of the Nigerian Navy and are based ot Ojo, just west of Lagos, whilst the Citations are part of the Nigerian Air Force and are based at Benin.
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