Kenya Receives Helicopters, Armored Vehicles Amid Ongoing Terror Threats

ADF STAFF

The Kenya Defense Forces has begun receiving helicopters and other military equipment from the United States as it faces ongoing terror threats and participates in regional and international peacekeeping missions.

In July, Kenya received two of eight UH-1 “Huey” helicopters. Known as a utility military aircraft, Hueys are designed and produced by the U.S. aerospace company Bell Helicopter. Six more Hueys and eight MD500 light military helicopters are scheduled to arrive between late 2024 and mid-2025. Besides increasing Kenya’s capacity to provide regional peacekeeping support and participate in security operations, the helicopters will be used in air assaults, to deploy and evacuate troops, and deliver supplies.

Aden Duale, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for defense, told Citizen TV Kenya that he was satisfied with the helicopters that have been delivered after a reporter suggested that the KDF’s existing military helicopters were “aged.”

“Before we get helicopters, our technical teams do an assessment,” Duale said, adding that the aircraft will help “boost our air assets, boost the capability of the KDF, to protect our air space and for our engagement in the war against Al-Shabaab in Somalia.”

Kenya will also receive about 150 M1117 armored security vehicles from the U.S. this year. The M1117 can reach speeds up to 100 kilometers per hour. They typically include a Mk19 grenade launcher, an M2 .50-caliber machine gun and an M240 machine gun.

Since 2020, the U.S. has allocated $230 million in civilian security and defense sector funding to Kenya, including ongoing advisory and training assistance from the Massachusetts National Guard that benefits Kenyan pilots, logistics personnel and the KDF’s Disaster Response Battalion.

Border Attacks

The delivery of military equipment to Kenya is timely. Ongoing al-Shabaab attacks in Kenya near the Somalia border have coincided with the drawdown of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). These attacks have postponed the reopening of the shared border, which has been closed since 2011.

Between June and early August there were more than 90 al-Shabaab attacks in the border area, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). The attacks targeted security forces and civilians.

On June 13, an improvised explosive device killed eight Kenyan police officers in Garissa, while five civilians were killed in Lamu 11 days later. In response, Kenya has built 14 operating bases along the shared border.

In August, al-Shabaab conducted its first attack since 2020 in Marsabit County, located on the border with Ethiopia, according to ACLED. In mid-September, Kenya’s National Police Service spokesperson Resila Onyango warned the public of more credible threats from al-Shabaab. Onyango urged the public to report any dubious activities or suspicious people to police.

“The National Police Service is working closely with other security agencies at national, regional and international levels, as well as the public, through intelligence-led policing,” Onyango said in a report by Somalia’s Garowe Online news agency.

KDF In Somalia

Kenya has 4,000 troops currently serving in ATMIS. The mission’s mandate ends at the end of the year.

A new AU peacekeeping mission, the Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, will succeed ATMIS. It is expected to include up to 11,911 personnel, including 85 civilians and 680 police personnel, and be deployed across four geographical sectors.

Approved by the United Nations Security Council in August, it aims to deploy on January 1, 2025, gradually hand over security responsibilities to Somali security forces, and withdraw its personnel by the end of 2028, according to independent news website Security Council Report. It is not clear if Kenya will participate in the new mission.