The United States has officially handed over Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft to Cameroon and Chad. The four aircraft, two for each country, were formally transferred in May after months of training. Cameroon’s Caravan package, worth $4.3 million, includes support and training. The two aircraft for Cameroon, registered N337ZZ (c/n 208B5337) and N339ZZ (c/n 208B5339), were handed over to the Armée de l’Air de Cameroun (Cameroon Air Force) by the US Ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin on May 18. Chad’s two aircraft, c/n 208B5332 and 208B5329, arrived in December 2017 wearing US civil registrations N332ZZ and N329ZZ respectively, after which pilot training took place. Both aircraft were handed over to Forces Aériennes Tchadiennes (Chad Air Force) on May 2, 2018. The Caravans will be used to combat terrorism in the region (with a focus on Boko Haram militants) and for the ISR role are equipped with L3 Wescam MX-15 multispectral sensors with live video ground downlink capability. Guy Martin
