Nigeria’s evolving defence industry

In March 2026, 15 Vanquisher light armoured personnel carriers, manufactured by the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) in collaboration with Vanquish Industries Limited, were delivered to the Nigerian Army.

Being a locally manufactured vehicle, the Vanquisher is an indication of the Nigerian defence industry’s growing self-sufficiency.

The primary player in Nigeria’s defence industry is state-owned DICON, itself run by the Nigerian Armed Forces. Established in 1964, DICON has typically manufactured licensed copies of foreign designs, with a focus on small arms-light weapons (SALW) and body armour. Prominent examples include the NR1, a licensed FN FAL, and the DG-103, a licensed Kalashnikov AK-103 manufactured by the DICON-D7G joint venture.

In recent years, Nigeria’s defence industry capability has expanded to encompass mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles, to meet the Nigerian Army’s demand for such vehicles to conduct counter-insurgency (COIN) missions against groups such as Boko Haram. The most common of these is DICON’s Ezugwu, which was unveiled in 2019.

Additionally, Proforce, Nigeria’s first private sector defence business, has manufactured the PF Ara and PF Hulk, with EPAIL Nigeria manufacturing the EPV24 Dodandawa.

DICON and the privately owned Nigerian defence companies have the potential to export their MRAPs to neighbouring countries with similar COIN mission requirements, such as members of the Alliance of Sahel States.  

Overall, Nigerian-manufactured MRAPs have substantially lower costs than commonly fielded foreign designs fielded by African militaries, such as Turkish company Katmerciler’s Hizir and South African business Denel SOC’s Casspir NG 2000 on account of comparatively lower labour and manufacturing costs.

As an example, DICON’s Ezugwu is believed to have an approximate unit cost of N250m ($180,000), which is significantly lower than Nigeria’s procurement of foreign MRAPS, which are reported to have had unit costs ranging between N900m ($650,000) and N1bn ($725,000).

Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) are another platform in which the Nigerian defence industry is developing indigenous designs. Nigeria’s first UAV was the Tsaigumi, which entered service with the Nigerian Air Force in 2018. The UAV was developed by the Nigerian Air Force Research and Development Center with assistance from Portuguese entity UAVision. It has a range of 100km and is designed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in support of COIN operations.

However, there are marked limitations on the ability of Nigeria’s defence industry to achieve a comprehensive level of self-sufficiency. As a case in point, the delivery of the Vanquisher light APCs coincides with the Dagger 4×4, manufactured by French business Arquus.

This is a strong indication that Nigeria’s domestic defence players cannot currently entirely capture an individual market segment, such as armoured personnel carriers. The result of this is that Nigeria remains predominantly reliant on the import of foreign platforms.

DICON’s Vanquisher is an indication of the Nigerian defence industry increasing in capability, with the vehicle following several MRAP designs. These vehicles would likely have low manufacturing costs, making them an attractive option for COIN-focused militaries in Africa.

However, despite indications of an increasing manufacturing capability, Nigeria’s domestic defence players continue to rely on licensing foreign designs. While this presents an opportunity for foreign suppliers to enter the Nigerian defence market, the ability for domestic companies to entirely develop and manufacture their own designs remains relatively modest, with this likely to be the case in the long term. 

The Irish Air Corps is to be renamed the Irish Air Force. As outlined in our Analyst Briefing discussing potential Irish fighter aircraft procurement, Ireland is to procure a primary radar system, and at the time of writing, it is a significant likelihood that a squadron of between eight to 12 fighter aircraft will be procured.

Together, these will allow the Irish Air Force to identify and intercept potentially hostile aircraft, removing the need for assistance from RAF Typhoons.

The Irish Naval Service is to be renamed the Irish Navy, with its number of surface vessels expanding from eight to 12, which will expand operational bandwidth and allow for patrols of Irish territorial waters and participation in EU naval missions simultaneously.

Most importantly, the procurement of a “Multirole Combat Vessel” is being considered. This would provide the Irish Navy with its own, albeit small-scale ASW [anti-submarine warfare] capabilities and act as a deterrent to Russian submarine activity in Ireland’s territorial waters. This, in turn, would free up Royal Navy assets for patrols elsewhere in the North Atlantic.

The Irish Army is to see a replacement of its fleet of Piranha IIIH armoured personnel carriers and RG-32 patrol vehicles, with the former completing a mid-life upgrade at the end of 2025. The Armoured Fleet Replacement Project, valued between €600m and €800m ($700m to $935m), will see 100 vehicles to replace both.

At the time of writing, it is believed that the KNDS SCORPION series of vehicles, consisting of the Griffon armoured personnel carrier, the Jaguar armoured reconnaissance vehicle, and the Serval light multipurpose vehicle, is the leading contender in the Armoured Fleet Replacement Project.

The SCORPION series would be of particular interest to Ireland as three vehicles would be procured in one deal, in addition to readily available spare parts, allowing for cost-effective fleet maintenance. The Jaguar, especially, would represent a significant increase in the lethality of the Irish Army armoured cavalry capability, restoring it to levels seen before the retirement of the FV101 Scorpion in 2017.

Ultimately, while it is almost certain that Ireland will never join Nato fully, the country remains “Nato-adjacent”, and interoperability with Nato remains important. Dublin expects that the Irish Defence Forces will always operate as part of UN or EU missions, largely with other EU member states who themselves are predominantly members of Nato.

To that end, all major procurements for the Irish Defence Forces will be produced by companies of European Nato members. For these companies, Ireland represents a transparent allied market with modest requirements that allow for a long-term presence to be established. 

Australia could be one of the main beneficiaries of this dramatic increase in demand, where private companies and local governments alike are eager to expand the country’s nascent rare earths production. In 2021, Australia produced the fourth-most rare earths in the world. It’s total annual production of 19,958 tonnes remains significantly less than the mammoth 152,407 tonnes produced by China, but a dramatic improvement over the 1,995 tonnes produced domestically in 2011.

The dominance of China in the rare earths space has also encouraged other countries, notably the US, to look further afield for rare earth deposits to diversify their supply of the increasingly vital minerals. With the US eager to ringfence rare earth production within its allies as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, including potentially allowing the Department of Defense to invest in Australian rare earths, there could be an unexpected windfall for Australian rare earths producers.