The Nigerian Air Force’s impending acquisition of the JF-17 is a cautionary tale of the need for armed forces everywhere to assess their respective operational environment in a realistic manner and then devise an appropriate equipment procurement strategy.

MoD can leapfrog many of the 11 stages in the procurement programme by taking the measures outlined to fulfil the urgent requirements of the Air Force.

The government should set up a task force to engage with potential investors and investees and evolve a simplified FDI policy, which has different slabs for different kinds of activities and is free from terms and conditions that are difficult to understand and implement.

The relationship between the cost versus coverage of technology transferred, which likely follows the law of diminishing returns, would make technology acquisition beyond, say 80 per cent, increasingly cost prohibitive, with no matching and assured gains

The proposed blacklisting policy of the Ministry of Defence must be comprehensive enough to ensure that no loose ends are left to be tied at time of implementation.

It is rare that a foreign company makes a huge investment to produce major platforms in a third country with a view to make that country an export hub.

Defence planning has had a troubled history since its inception, in spite of several experiments with the structures and processes of planning. It will, therefore, be in the fitness of things to re-evaluate the existing architecture of planning.