# Ugandan air force loses Mi-24 attack helicopter

- Link: https://www.military.africa/2025/07/ugandan-air-force-loses-mi-24-attack-helicopter/
- Published: 2025-07-02T09:41:00+01:00
- Author: Patrick Kenyette

A Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces Mi-24 helicopter dispatched to the African Union
mission in Somalia crashed at Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport on 
Wednesday 2 July, killing five people and leaving others injured. According to a
UPDF statement, the rotorcraft, registered AUO-015, went down about 200 metres east
of the airport’s north ramp while conducting a routine combat escort mission. Eight
people were aboard at the time of the accident. The aircraft was carrying unspecified
munitions and the ensuing detonation after the crash caused extensive damage to 
nearby structures and wounded three civilians.

The UPDF said the three-man flight deck — pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer — 
survived but suffered serious injuries, including burns. They were taken to the 
AUSSOM (African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia) Sector 1 Level
II Hospital for treatment. A joint emergency response comprised of Mogadishu International
Airport firefighters, United Nations teams and AUSSOM explosive ordnance disposal
personnel secured the scene and supported rescue operations. An official investigation
has been opened to establish the cause of the incident.

The crash underscores the hazards faced by regional peacekeepers. Ugandan troops
form part of an approximately 11,000-strong AU force assisting the Somali government
against the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab insurgency, which has waged guerrilla warfare
across Somalia for more than two decades. Ahmed Maalim, head of the Somali Civil
Aviation Authority, told the BBC the helicopter had come down in the airport’s military
section after flying in from Baledogle airbase in Lower Shabelle.

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The accident adds to a recent pattern of helicopter losses involving the UPDF. In
September last year the Ugandan military lost a transport helicopter on a flight
from Mogadishu to Baledogle; all four peacekeepers on board survived. A month before
the Mogadishu Mi-24 crash, Burundi lost an AB 412 (BAF-1135/AUO-012) deployed with
AUSSOM after a technical malfunction forced a landing near Hawadley on 2 June; the
aircraft was subsequently abandoned and captured by al-Shabab. Uganda’s record over
the past few years also includes [two fatal helicopter crashes](https://www.military.africa/2022/10/two-uganda-helicopter-crash-in-drc-underscores-maintenance-deficit/)
in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in October 2022 that killed at least 22 
people, and several non-fatal Mi-24 incidents in 2022. In January of last year a
recently [acquired Mi-28 Havoc crashed ](https://www.military.africa/2024/01/uganda-loses-new-mi-28n-attack-helicopter-in-fatal-crash/)
in western Uganda en route to operations in the DRC, killing both crew members; 
weather was cited as a possible factor in that case.

In response to operational strains and recurring maintenance needs, the Ugandan 
air force has moved to bolster domestic sustainment. Since 2022 it has [overhauled](https://www.military.africa/2022/01/uganda-commissions-helicopter-mro-plant-target-africas-helicopter-market/)
its Russia/Soviet-built Mi-series helicopters in-house through a maintenance, repair
and overhaul (MRO) facility at Nakasongola Air Force Base [established](https://www.military.africa/2022/01/uganda-commissions-helicopter-mro-plant-target-africas-helicopter-market/)
by the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) in partnership with Russian firm Pro-
Heli International. Commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni, the plant aims to
service Mi-17 (Mi-8) and Mi-24 types for Uganda and to compete for work across Africa,
including UN missions. The arrangement is intended to reduce ferry costs and turnaround
times and to develop local technical capacity; in April 2023 Museveni formally [commissioned](https://www.military.africa/2023/04/uganda-overhauls-mi-24-locally/)
Uganda’s first locally [overhauled Mi-24.](https://www.military.africa/2023/04/uganda-overhauls-mi-24-locally/)

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Those investments have not eliminated risk. Operating attack helicopters on peacekeeping
missions is inherently dangerous: aircraft fly long hours in austere settings, often
near hostile territory and under high operational tempo. The presence of munitions,
austere airfields and the threat posed by insurgent activity increase the stakes
when mechanical issues or human error occur. For Uganda, each loss invites scrutiny
of maintenance practices, pilot training, logistics and the broader decision to 
deploy rotary-wing assets into contested airspaces.

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The Mogadishu crash will also reverberate politically and operationally. It arrives
at a sensitive time for regional security and for the AU mission, which depends 
on partner contributions to sustain pressure on al-Shabab. Investigators face the
task of piecing together flight data, maintenance logs and crew testimony to determine
whether the crash resulted from mechanical failure, human factors, hostile action
or a combination of causes. Until that inquiry is concluded, families of the dead
and injured are left to grieve while military planners must weigh immediate operational
needs against risk to personnel and equipment.

Whatever the outcome of the investigation, the event underlines the precarious nature
of helicopter operations in theatre and the imperative for rigorous maintenance 
regimes, robust training and resilient support networks — a lesson that applies 
to all countries supplying aircraft to challenging deployments across the region.

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