On July 29 this year, yet another UPDF Russian-made helicopter crashed while in operation in Moroto. Luckily there were no casualties according to the army.
Whether it is part of the UPDF military doctrine to single-source military equipment, the fact that over the last decades, nearly ten UPDF aircraft have crashed and all are Russian-made calls for a rethink on over-reliance on one country for equipment.
Moreover, after a meeting between Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Uganda’s Foreign minister Jeje Odongo recently in St Petersburg, it was announced that “Uganda is to become Russia’s regional defence equipment hub.”
The fact that most of these Russian military equipment appear either obsolete or are sourced without proper scrutiny and due diligence creates much skepticism about UPDF’s enthusiasm for them. Uganda is a non-aligned country and must as much as possible diversify its options on military equipment which would allow UPDF to get well-groomed in a diversity of combat equipment.
General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, despite his controversial remarks in the past about the capability of the UPDF, got it absolutely right as is acknowledged by most, that the UPDF is a strong army with top-notch soldiers who benefit from excellent training and experience from real battle theatres.
The UPDF has indulged in military actions abroad in places like Somalia, Central African Republic, eastern DRC (Operation Shujaa) and elsewhere. This is not to mention the various operations inside Uganda against various armed groups.
However, recent events should shed the limelight on whether UPDF training and experience matches the type of military equipment and hardware in their possession.
This latest crash was preceded by two recent Mi-17 and Mi-24 helicopter crashes within hours of each other, in western Uganda and eastern DRC. Many other previous helicopter crashes including the one that killed South Sudan liberation hero John Garang, all point to one factor; they were all Russian-made!
Machines malfunction the world over but by relying on weapons and equipment from one source, the UPDF could be making a fatal mistake of putting all its eggs in one basket. Moreover, after the Russian-Ukraine war, Russia will be seeking to rebuild and rearm with probably little appetite to supply weapons to other countries.
This is the moment the UPDF should diversify its arsenal of weapons without compromising its military doctrine. This should also help improve the shelf-life of the equipment used by the Ugandan army.
The numerous malfunctions of Russian-made equipment in the UPDF over the last couple of years should not be treated as normal and should embolden the army leadership and President Museveni to expand options for the UPDF.
This is because it is now apparent that in the war in Ukraine, Russian armed forces and equipment appear to be less effective than the Western-made armament used by Ukrainian forces. It should not mean entirely getting rid of Russian equipment and armament but at least having a proper mix.
Russian equipment may be cheaper but there is a saying that cheap things can be very expensive in the end.
The Observer
