Nigerian Aviation NA.27A-5

Nigerian Aviation NA.27A-5 Bushshrike

a/c 5T-MAL, 72nd Air Commando, 7th Air Commando Wing, Mauritanian Special Operations Command

Zouérat, Mauritania, 1968

Pilot: Captain Clint Dempsey

 

Dornier was a major aircraft manufacturer in Germany up to the end of WW2 in 1946. Forbidden to continue aviation developments in Germany after the war, Dornier relocated its operations to Switzerland in 1947 and began work on designing a light STOL transport, the Dornier Do 25. With the European Red Revolutions of 1950, the company organised a retreat for its design team to UN-controlled Algeria. As its staff found jobs elsewhere, the company was wound up and its intellectual property was sold off. In 1952, the newly created firm Nigerian Aviation acquired the rights to the Do 25's design, the prototype flying as the NA.25 in 1955.

 

Flight testing of the NA.25 prototype found the type to be underpowered and, based on market feedback, too small. Redesigned with a bigger airframe and a more powerful engine, the evolved NA.27 won a UN competition for a light STOL transport and numerous orders for both civilian and military operators followed. The type’s popular name,

Bushshrike, refers to a family of small bird species common across sub-Saharan Africa. The name was a nod to the NA.27's status as a "bush plane" and was widely considered to be a direct marketing challenge to Cessna, DHC and Piper.

 

The NA.27A-5 was a version customised for COIN warfare. The NA.27A-5 was deployed in FAC, scouting and artillery spotting roles and served as a light combat platform performing CAS and interdiction missions. Rockets (LAU-32 pods are seen here), gun pods, SUU-14A submunitions dispensers, reconnaissance pods and flares could be carried underwing. Side firing machine guns could also be mounted in the rear of the cabin. Some flew with FLIR pods and Pave Zot or Atlis II laser targeting equipment. Additionally, it could conduct liaison and light transport duties, including the delivery of parachute-retarted stores containers and was used for casualty evacuation and the deployment of small paratroop teams.

 

The Mauritanian Special Operations Command (MSOC) was an elite organisation within the Mauritanian Defence Force. Formed May 1961, just 6 months after Mauritania gained independence in November 1960, MSOC brought together air, land and maritime forces under a single command to conduct COIN warfare. Publicly, it engaged seperatist Polisario Front guerrilla fighters and conducted interdiction of the Trotsky Trail, which connected UN controlled sub-Saharan Africa with the Red liberated areas of northern Algeria and Morocco. During these campaigns, MSOC aircraft patrolled northern Mauritania and beyond, flying into the airspace of Algeria, Mali, Morocco and Spanish Sahara. It also secretly mounted missions against the Mauritanian government's political opponents. Thanks to its funding by the US and the "contributions of generous donors," MSOC additionally served as a CIA front. Deployments into Niger and Chad on "training exercises" provided cover for clandestine CIA missions into those countries and neutral Libya. By 1965, most of the Mauritanian Air Force's flying squadrons were assigned to MSOC, exceptions being training units and the 1st Fighter Squadron, which was dedicated to air defence with Canadair Sabre 6s and later NF-5As. Until the mid-1970s, most of MSOC's aircrew were foriegn mercenaries.

 

MAF's 7th Air Commando Wing (7ACW) was dedicated to MSOC activities and flew a variety of fixed winged types in support of its operations. The 7ACW's first squadron, the 71st Air Commando (71AC), was formed in July 1961 and initially flew a mix of Cessna O-1Es, DHC-1 Chipmunk AOP.3s and DHC-2 Beavers. The 72nd Air Commando followed in 1963, equipped with Nigerian Aviation NA.27A-5s Bushshrikes, some of which were customised for nocturnal FAC duties. Night modifications included extended exhausts for flame damping and cabin lighting optimised for night flying. By the end of 1968, 7ACW was operating Beavers, Bushshrikes, Chipmunks, T-28S Fennecs, Dakota transports converted into EC-47D Elint/EW platforms and AC-47D gunships, DHC-4 Caribous and C-119G transports, a variety of Mooney C-10 and MC-10 Monarchs and DHC-6-100 series Twin Otters in both transport and maritime patrol configurations. 7ACW also managed a small fleet of civilian registered light planes that included civilian Beech, Cessna and Piper types. The MAF's 8 Air Commando Wing was equipped with helicopters and also dedicated to MSOC operations. Most MSOC aircraft carried civilian registration to facilitate the organisation's many international commercial activities, which were not only lucrative but also provided cover for a range of covert operations.

 

The 72AC Bushshrike depicted here was photographed in August 1968 at an "unnamed location in northern Mauritania." This has since been identified as the airfield at Zouérat, the country’s largest iron ore mine. As the mine and its associated railway line were frequently attacked by Red commandos and Polisario Front guerrillas, MSOC maintained a substantial presence in the area. The desert camouflage on the aircraft's upper and side surfaces contrasted with its black undersurfaces; a similar camouflage adorned an AC-47D of 74AC seen in the background of the reference image. 72AC's callsign for nocturnal ops was Nightjar and when operating with an AC-47D the two aircraft formed a Bat Team, the NA.27A-5 serving as a scout, finding and marking targets for the gunship. When NA.27A-5s were teamed with Fennecs, they formed a Jackal Team. 72AC aircrews also regularly worked with other UN air and surface assets, including troops from the multinational French Foriegn Legion and the UN's Long Range Desert Groups. The LAU-32 pods carried 8 70mm Mk 40 rockets armed with M156 WP and M257 parachute illumination warheads on night FAC missions. Night FAC missions were either flown alone or with an observer, the latter using a light intensifying night vision scope and working the radios (often in French).

 

The pilot seen standing next to this aircraft in the reference photo was Captain Clint Dempsey. Officially a member of the Mauritanian Air Force (MAF) from 1 June 1968 to 31 May 1969, Capt. Dempsey flew with 72AC throughout his contract. A USAF pilot, Dempsey was a "MAC retread" who had flown C-119Gs and KC-135As before serving as an O-2A FAC over the Sahara with the 19th TASS. In April 1968, Dempsey volunteered for a "special assignment" that involved resigning from the USAF, joining the MAF for a year and then returning to the USAF. Upon completion of his Mauritanian tour, he was promoted to Major and assigned to fly RF-4Es. It was whilst flying this type with the 17thTRS that Major Dempsey crashed in uncertain circumstances over northern Algeria on 19 November 1972. Dempsey was killed in the incident and his injured backseater, Lt. Landon Donovan, was taken prisoner by the Reds. After his release in 1982, Lt. Donovan put the crash down to a dramatic interception by Fishbed fighters, but the Reds reported that it was due to a hit by an S-125 Neva/Pechora (SA-3 Goa) SAM.

 

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