A still from a video released on 21 February shows a Bayraktar Akıncı taking off with two Roketsan Eren missiles for the UAV’s first air-to-air interception test. (Baykar Technologies)
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has claimed it shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was exported to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and was operating from Bahir Dar in western Ethiopia.
At a press conference held in Khartoum on 4 May 2026, SAF spokesman Brigadier General Asim Awad Abdelwahab said the UAV was shot down by SAF air defences on 17 March, without identifying what type it was.
“The drone’s data was analysed and we contacted the manufacturer, who confirmed that the drone number S88 belongs to the United Arab Emirates,” he said.
He displayed what was claimed to be flight data recovered from the UAV showing it taxied from the apron at the Ethiopian Air Force base at Bahir Dar airport, then flew to the Sudanese city of El-Obeid by cutting across the northeast of South Sudan.
Brig Gen Abdelwahab said the UAV was shot down north of El-Obeid, but the flight data he displayed showed its track ending approximately 110 km southwest of Al-Damazin on its return journey.
His presentation also included infrared footage showing a twin-engine aircraft filmed from another aircraft as what appeared to be an air-to-air missile approached, although an impact was not shown.
The next scene in the video showed a crashed aircraft that could be identified as a Bayraktar Akıncı, a twin-engine Turkish-made UAV that is in service with both Ethiopia and the UAE.
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