- The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI),an institute dedicated to research of conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament has reported that Uganda acquired six SU-30MK fighter jets from Russia costing $635m in2011 and 2012.
Uganda is known for its propensity for Russian weapons for its military operations. Its military operations stretched from DR Congo to the Central African Republic and Somalia in a period spanning ten years. For almost last fifteen years, Uganda has been extensively engaged in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Although it is essentially a peacekeeping mission, Ugandan troops reportedly resort to offensive warfare to deal with the deadly Al Shabaab terrorists.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an institute dedicated to research of conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament has reported that Uganda acquired six SU-30MK fighter jets from Russia costing $635m in2011 and 2012. Uganda’s shopping list for arms from Russia also includes T-90 tanks, Kornet anti-tank missiles, anti-ship missiles, Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs), and other components of the SU-30 combat aircraft. SIPRI data also points out that 1,000 Kornet anti-tank missiles were delivered to Uganda between 2012 and 2013.
The Sukhoi Su-30MK fighter jets bought from Russia about a decade back are regarded as Uganda’s most prized military asset. These were reportedly used for bombing camps of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in November 2021 at the start of the hunt for ADF militants in DR Congo in Operation Shujaa. Recently Uganda has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the maintenance and technical support of the Sukhoi SU-MK30 fighter jets. The Indian company has a manufacturing license from Russia to build the fighter aircraft.
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