President Goodluck Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday unveiled Nigeria’s first indigenous unmanned aerial vessel named GULMA, which was designed and constructed by the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) in collaboration with other local institutions.
Jonathan, while speaking at the ceremony at the NAF Base, Kaduna, commended the Nigerian military, especially the Air Force for attaining such a technological feat.
He noted that apart from their commitment to the protection of the country's our sovereignty, the collective efforts of the military had opened a new vista of innovation and opportunity for the nation.
“Besides its diverse military application, unmanned aerial vessel provides mankind with a range of benefits; in disaster management, power line surveys, law enforcement, telecommunications, weather monitoring, and aerial imaging and mapping. It is also rapidly, becoming an important tool in news coverage, environmental monitoring, and oil and gas exploration.
“Considering the potential impact of its benefit and versatility, I cannot but say how proud I am of the men and women of our armed forces. Apart from their commitment to the protection of our sovereignty, they are helping to keep our nation ahead in military science and technology and to keep their civilian counterparts, on their toes.
“In the year past, we have launched the first indigenous combat vessel, developed by our navy, and various armoured and operational vehicles developed by the Nigerian Army. To all of you, I say thank you. Your collective efforts have opened a new vista of innovation and opportunity for our nation,” he added.
According to him, "This pioneering achievement of the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) and all officers and men of the Nigerian Air Force, will strengthen the country, and enhance her role in peace keeping and in conflict prevention.
“With only a few weeks to our centenary celebration as a nation, this achievement is a shining sequin on the icing of our 100 years anniversary cake. I congratulate all Nigerians, who are surely and steadily, beginning to manifest the new awareness of self-reliance and global competition,” he said.
President Jonathan expressed hope that the current stride by the NAF would mark a turning point for indigenous technology, in every sector of the nation thereby rapidly facilitating the march towards a prosperous Nigeria.
He assured the Air Force of the federal government’s support for the UAVs and all other research projects.
“We will encourage and assist private sector concerns to key in, in order to achieve through mass production, the highest and best commercial use of this prototype Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. To retain our importance on the global stage, we must continue to produce leaders in science, technology, and engineering, and invest more in ideas,” he stated.
Also speaking, the Minister of Information and Supervising Minister of Defence, Mr. Labaran Maku, voiced the need for a comprehensive policy on UAV acquisition and operation to optimise the employment of GULMA by all the Services and Security agencies.
Maku stressed: “Although the UAV is a brainchild of the NAF, it is important that the other services and security agencies incorporate it into their operations, if its potentials are to be fully harnessed.
“Furthermore, this technological breakthrough clearly indicates the individual potentials of the Services’ research impetus. However, in order to truly fulfil our objective as a fighting force, emphasis should now be placed on the harmonisation of our individual research and development towards attainment of a common goal to transform the Nigerian Armed Forces into one of the top fighting forces in the world.
“Working hand in hand with NAF and other Services, the Federal Ministry of Defence shall sustain its efforts at encouraging local content in its pursuit of military asset acquisition. Also the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigerian (DICON) shall be further empowered to provide support to the Services in their respective and collective research and development efforts,” he assured.
Earlier, CAS, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, disclosed that the UAV designated as GULMA, means gossip in Hausa language, which was a name derived from the aircraft’s primary role as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform.
Badeh emphasised that NAF's objective was to have a degree of self-sufficiency in the field of aviation and military technology; in order to reduce the nation's crippling dependence on the more industrialised countries.
“At this juncture, please permit me to state that the GULMA has been designed to meet vast expectations and needs. It could be employed by the Armed Forces and Security agencies for the protection of Nigeria.
“We also envisage viable partnerships with agencies such as National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in area of disaster management and the Nigerian Air Space Management Agency (NAMA) for weather forecasting,” he said.
GULMA platform profile, which was designed and constructed in collaboration with the indigenous vehicle manufacturing company Innoson includes MTOW 40kilogramme; Max Altitude 10,000ft; Cruise Speed 86.4kts; Endurance 5.8 hours; Range (cruise) 923kilometre; Engine-3W 157 xi (17HP); Structure that is fully composite; and Avionics of Micro Pilot FCS.
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