[3] Some of its popular aircraft include the Chengdu F-7s, Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jets, JF-17 Thunder Block II, T129 Atak, Agusta Westland 109, Eurocopter EC135 and Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano.

[5] The head of the German Air Force Assistance Group (GAFAG) was Colonel Gerhard Kahtz, and he became the first commander of the NAF.

On 13 August 1967, following several damaging attacks by Biafran aircraft, the USSR started delivering the first MiG-17s from Egypt to Kano IAP, simultaneously sending a large shipment aboard a Polish merchant ship.

Later six Il-28 bombers, initially flown upon deployment by Egyptian and Czech pilots, were delivered from Egypt and stationed at Calabar and Port Harcourt.

Nigeria purchased 24 Aero L-39 Albatros armed jet trainers in 1986–87, having retired its fleet of L-29 that were donated to the Republic of Ghana Air Force at the inception of the West African Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) operations in Liberia.

In 2005, under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian Parliament appropriated US$251 million to purchase 15 Chengdu F-7 fighter aircraft from China.

The Federal Government of Nigeria under the same dispensation acquired some ATR Maritime Patrol aircraft, built by EADS and Finmeccania / Alenia Aeronautica, boosting the capacity of the service to carry out extensive Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions on land and far into the sea.

From September 2009, Nigeria began refurbishing some of its C-130 aircraft beginning with the NAF 917 which it brought back to life with the support of U.S. Air Forces Africa and 118th Airlift Wing.

[7] In March 2014, the Nigerian Government approached Pakistan for the purchase of joint Chinese-Pakistani made CAC/PAC JF-17 "Thunder" multi-role fighter aircraft.

It is understood that the Buhari administration will expand the fleet of JF-17 fighter aircraft upon an expression of satisfaction by NAF Generals, with the performance of the initial batch procured.

In December 2017, NAF formally announced that the United States of America had agreed to sell the A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft to Nigeria after the deal had previously stalled.

[8] In November 2018, Sierra Nevada was officially awarded the contract for the 12 Super Tucano aircraft for the NAF, with an estimated completion date by 2024.

The Air Force includes a service headquarters, 6 principal staff branches, 4 direct reporting units, and 4 operational commands.

The Nigerian Air Force headquarters is responsible for establishing long and short-term mission objectives and articulating policies, carrying out plans and procedures for the attainment of peace and stability.

One particularly fatal error happened in December 2023, when the Nigerian forces accidentally hit a village with an armed UAV in northwestern Nigeria killing 85 civilians[64][65] celebrating a Muslim festival.

[67] The military targeted the terror group Lakurawa in the villages of Gidan Sama and Rumtuwa, but civilians were caught in the crossfire.

The incident raised concerns among human rights groups, including Amnesty International, which called on the Nigerian military to review its procedures and avoid such deadly accidents in the future.