How Sudan Became a Laboratory for Drone Warfare, Thanks to Abu Dhabi– warontherocks.com

In June 2026, I visited Khartoum, my hometown, for the first time since the war broke out in Sudan in April 2023. I left the city to seek safety with my family after the war spread into civilian neighborhoods. I never imagined I would return to the same city. I was very excited but also traumatized by the destruction I saw as the plane landed at Khartoum International Airport. The airport was busy, with many Sudanese returning after commercial flights resumed in May 2026. But the growing drone warfare that is spreading over Sudan threatens the return of hopeful Sudanese to their homes and normal life.

Sudan’s war has begun in April 2023. The Sudanese Armed Forces are locked in a battle with the Rapid Support Forces, an ethnic militia that grew out of the notorious Janjaweed forces. However, this time, a non-state militia is operating and using strategic drones in military operations. The Rapid Support Forces began using limited-range drones during the first month of the war in Khartoum. The Sudanese Armed Forces followed, with the help of Ukraine, turning civilian drones into armed drones, which proved to be very effective in urban warfare. This limited use did not last long.