British-made military equipment found in Sudan

Posted: 6th November 2025

This week, it was revealed that UK-made military items were found in Sudan amid an escalating humanitarian catastrophe in the northeast African country.

Sudan has been gripped by civil war since April 2023. It is being waged between the country’s army, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and its powerful paramilitary rival, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Millions of people have been displaced, with an estimated 150,000 killed and more than 30 million in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

Recent massacres carried out by the RSF in El Fasher, Darfur, have left blood marks which can be seen from space. Conditions in that city have been described as “apocalyptic”.

The escalating conflict in Sudan is also a proxy war.

Turkey and Egypt have backed the SAF, while Russia has reportedly backed both sides through its paramilitary arm, the Wagner Group.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), meanwhile, has transferred funds and weaponry to the RSF.

One of the UAE’s key interests is Sudan’s gold, with RSF networks helping Emirati businessmen to access its significant, and largely untapped, mineral reserves.

According to Middle East Eye, the UAE also “controls several land and farming operations in Sudan, a country it has, for decades, positioned as an agricultural trade partner, amid fears of food insecurity across the Gulf”.

The US government has broadly tolerated the UAE’s involvement in Sudan’s civil war because of its geostrategic interests in the Middle East.

A “very senior” official in the Joe Biden administration told a journalist in April 2024 that Washington’s policy towards Sudan was about keeping “the Emirates onside with Israel and onside against Iran”.

For its part, the UK government has issued strong statements but done very little to rein in its Gulf ally.

According to Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), Britain has exported over £417m worth of arms to the UAE in the past three years.

And some of those items are now showing up in Sudan, including British engines for military armoured vehicles and small weapons target devices.

The UK government has acknowledged these reports but sought to distance itself from any responsibility.

“We are aware of reports of a small number of UK-made items having been found in Sudan, but there is no evidence in the recent reporting of UK weapons or ammunition being used in Sudan”, said Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty.

He added that Britain would use its role on the UN Security Council “to call for an immediate end to this violence”, but no arms embargo on the UAE seems to be on the horizon.

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