[Photos] Woman who designed Nigeria’s 1st military-grade UAV

The death of Tolulope Arotile has prompted many Nigerian media outlets to begin searching for female “heroes” that are doing wonderful exploits in the Nigerian army but hardly get celebrated due to their gender.

A recent report identified one of such silent achievers as Lt. Nkemdilim Anulika Ofodile who is said to be the mastermind behind the nation’s very first locally-produced military-grade UAV.

Meet Lt. Nkemdilim Anulika Ofodile – designer of Nigeria’s very first locally produced military-grade UAV

Tsaigumi Tactical UAV is the official name given to the unmanned vehicle designed by Lt. Ofodile and her team. Sources claim that the vehicle was created by the Nigerian Airforce with the support of Portugal’s UAVision Aeronautics company. The Tsaigumi UAV is reportedly intended for use on both sea and land domains for ISR operations. Reports claim that the vehicle has the following attributes:

• 95kg Max take-off weight with a payload of an infra-red/electro-optic camera system
• 100km mission radius and 15,000ft service ceiling
• 10-hour operational endurance
• Night and day operation capabilities

The official presentation ceremony of Tsaigumi Tactic UAV by the Nigeria Air Force

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Online reports confirm that in the whole team of NAF (Nigeria Air Force) aerospace engineers, Lt. Ofodile was the only woman that contributed to the design of the “Tsaigumi” UAV – the nation’s first indigenous and operational remote-controlled aircraft.

Further research reveals that Lt. Ofodile is impressively a Doctor of Control Engineering. Yes, she holds a Doctorate degree certification (PhD) in Control Engineering. She is also popularly known for being the chief aviation electronics specialist on one “Amebo” UAV – built by the Nigerian Airforce for training new drone pilots in the force. Quite amazing records in her portfolio, isn’t it?

Check out the video below to see a real-life exercise in which the Tsaigumi UAV was used by the NAF to execute a successful mission:

 Video: TSAIGUMI UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE ON EXERCISE HARD STRIKE

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