# Two Ugandan helicopter crash in DRC, underscores maintenance deficit

- Link: https://www.military.africa/2022/10/two-uganda-helicopter-crash-in-drc-underscores-maintenance-deficit/
- Published: 2022-10-07T10:56:10+01:00
- Author: Patrick Kenyette

The Ugandan military on Wednesday lost two helicopters to crash in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), which resulted in at least 22 people killed. One was an
Mil Mi-17 helicopter primarily used for transportation. One of the crashes was near
the village of Boga in Congo’s Ituri province on Monday, and the other was in the
border zone of Kabarole, Uganda on Tuesday. This latest incident highlights Uganda’s
spotty record with helicopters operation.

According to a Ugandan army spokesman, the Ugandan Ministry of Defense has not yet
revealed the circumstances of the incident,” and the Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta
Museveni had ordered an investigation into the accidents as soon as possible.

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It was reported that the helicopters were involved in supplying Ugandan troops on
Congolese territory who are fighting with government forces in the DRC against troops
from the terrorist group Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo(
AFDL). One of the helicopters crashed immediately after takeoff, while no information
has been provided for the second helicopter.

[Uganda deployed its soldiers to the DRC in December last year ](https://www.military.africa/2022/06/drc-and-rwanda-exchanges-artillery-fire/)
to help fight a rebel group known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The AFDL
was formed from a Muslim sect in western Uganda in 1995 as an Islamist organization
in opposition to the government. In 2003, AFDL forces fled to eastern DRC to escape
Ugandan army attacks.

An Mi-24 helicopter also crashed on Monday last week in Fort Portal city, another
Mi-24 crashed in Mityana on July 26, but in both these incidents, no soldier was
killed. The former was reported to have developed mechanical faults.

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Uganda People’s Defence Air Force (UPDAF) spokesperson, Maj Moses Irimaso Mugisha,
regarding the incidents said he had not accessed any of the reports. Even though
UPDF has not made public reports explaining the reasons behind these crashes, some
incidents have been blamed on recklessness, lack of maintenance, and lack of knowledge
on flight routes to take regarding weather changes or topography.

In August 2012, while attempting to storm an Al Shabaab hideout in Somalia, three
out of a four-ship helicopter force that took off from an airfield in Uganda on 
crashed before ever coming close to the battlefield. Likewise, in 2015, a Ugandan
supplied a presidential helicopter to John Garang, the southern Sudanese guerrilla
leader crashed soon after into the mountain.

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Wolfgang H. Thome, an aviation consultant in Uganda, told The New York Times that
Uganda’s air force, like others in the region, was mostly composed of reconditioned,
secondhand “old birds.” This is the primary reason for the many crashes witnessed
over the years. Uganda flies around five Mil Mi-24 Hind gunships, a cousin of the
more capable Mi-28N helicopter. The East African country recently [increased its defence spending to step up to it’s neighbor and regional rival Kenya, ](https://www.military.africa/2022/04/uganda-boosts-defence-spending-as-new-regional-arms-race-takes-shape)
amid a new arms race in the region. Between 2012 and 2021, Uganda’s military expenditure
rose by 203 percent, and it’s military expenditure reached Sh123.1 billion ($1.066
billion) last year, an 8.3 percent increase from Sh113.7 billion ($984.7 million)
in 2020. The East African country also a[cquired three Mi-28N Havoc attack helicopter from Russia](https://www.military.africa/2022/06/uganda-acquiring-mi-28n-havoc-attack-helicopter-from-russia/)
to bolster its aerospace force.

To remedy this, Uganda, and its military’s commercial arm, the National Enterprise
Corporation-NEC and Pro-heli International, a Russian Company recently [commissioned a helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul plant at the Nakasongola Air Force Base.](https://www.military.africa/2022/01/uganda-commissions-helicopter-mro-plant-target-africas-helicopter-market/)
The MRO plant which was commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni, aims to service
the entire African helicopter MRO market including helicopters in use by UN Missions.

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