The Nigerian air force has taken delivery of the first of two ATR 42 MP maritime patrol aircraft.
The delivery, part of a contract signed in March 2007, makes the Nigerian air force the first export customer for the aircraft, built by Alenia Aeronautica, of the Italian's Finmeccanica company.
Under the agreement the second ATR 42 MP will be delivered in 2010.
The aircraft is jointly manufactured by Alenia, a leading European aerospace company and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co, a global leader in the same industry.
The contract, according to an Alenia company statement, also covers the provision of pilot and operator training on the basic aircraft, at ATR's training facilities in Toulouse, France.
The training will also cover the MP configuration of the aircraft and the mission system at Alenia's training center in Turin, Italy.
"At the customer's request," the company statement added, "training will take place in Nigeria from 2010 onwards, in order to allow the Nigerian air force to benefit from full use of the aircraft as quickly as possible."
The ATR 42 MP is set to be deployed by the African country's air force in conjunction with the Nigerian navy for maritime surveillance, search-and-rescue operations, and efforts to combat piracy, smuggling as well as illegal bunkering.
At a recent news conference, Nigeria's Minister of Defense Godwin Abbe disclosed the huge losses that his country was incurring as a result of illegal bunkering and mining of maritime resources along its exclusive economic zone.
"The perpetrators," he said, were "freely going about their [illicit] businesses with the knowledge that the nation had neither the eyes to see them, nor the teeth to bite them.
"It is therefore imperative that positive steps are taken to protect and preserve our vast marine resources," he told reporters.
The ATR, delivered from Toulouse in a "Green" configuration, was converted and fitted with Selex Galileo's airborne tactical observation and surveillance system. Maritime patrol sensors and systems were also added by Alenia in Turin, where the aircraft was tested.
The ATR 42 MP — a derivative of the ATR 42 commercial aircraft — is already being used by the Italian coast guard and the Italian customs police.
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