US gifts Kenya 6 new helcopters to fight Al Shabaab

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Ian Cruz

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May 4, 2016
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US gifts Kenya six helicopters to fight Al-Shabaab
US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec (left) hands over six helicopters to Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo at the Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki on December 2, 2016. PHOTO | FRED MUKINDA
By FRED MUKINDA, fmukinda@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, December 2 2016 at 14:45
The United States government has given six new helicopters to the Kenya Defence Forces to shore up the campaign against Al-Shabaab in Somalia.
Two other choppers are expected to be delivered in May 2017.
Kenya’s Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo received the Huey II helicopters at the Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki Wednesday morning.
"They will play a significant role in complex operations by our forces, especially in the Somalia theatre. It is an exceptional force multiplier for KDF," she said.
The grant, valued at $106 million (Sh11 billion), is part of the assistance pledged by President Obama to boost security in the region.
READ: US pledges to decimate terror group Al-Shabaab
US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec said it is the single largest donation to a foreign country in sub-Saharan Africa.
"This is will help in our joint efforts to fight Al-Shabaab. The US will remain a steadfast partner in fighting terrorism and radicalisation," he said.
Beside combat operations, the helicopters will also be used for search and rescue missions.
 
Wangewakodisha zile ambazo hazina rubani wakawafuta hao al shabaab haraka sana
 
Kwani hujui drones zenye hazina rubani ziko njiani wewe? Obama yualeta Hayo yote humu Kenya Weee Mtz Bongolala na longolongo
 
Kenya buys Sh1bn pilotless aircraft in war on Al Shabaab
A Mikado drone used by the German military flies at Camp Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan. PHOTO | AFP
By NEVILLE OTUKI, notuki@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Thursday, February 25 2016 at 04:00
IN SUMMARY
ScanEagle is billed as Kenya’s biggest counter-terrorism weapon that the country will use against dangerous groups such as Al Shabaab.
The drone will enable Kenyan security organs to conduct real-time surveillance on Al Shabaab terrorists alongside other major crime scenes inside Kenya’s borders.
The aircraft, together with the drone, will be deployed to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations.
Kenya is buying a Sh1 billion state-of-the-art military arsenal from the United States in the latest of effort to boost the country’s combat capabilities against terrorism.
The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), popularly known as a drone, is billed as Kenya’s biggest counter-terrorism weapon that the country will use against dangerous groups such as Somalia-based Al Shabaab who recently murdered an unknown number of Kenyan soldiers in a midnight ambush.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) opened the lid on the Kenya-US weapons trade in a report released on Monday.
The pilotless aircraft, dubbed ScanEagle, will enable Kenyan security organs to conduct real-time surveillance on Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorists alongside other major crime scenes inside Kenya’s borders.
“ScanEagle was ordered by the Kenyan government at a cost of $9.86 million (Sh1 billion),” said Sipri military expenditure programme director Samuel Perlo-Freeman.
“Presumably, it is intended to boost the Armed Forces’ surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities,” he added, meaning the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) could deploy the drone in neighbouring Somalia to gather information about terrorists in their hideouts and to stage pre-emptive attacks. The aircraft is set to arrive in September.
KDF spokesman Colonel David Obonyo Wednesday declined to comment on the matter insisting that the government does not make public its military purchases.
Islamist militants have recently unleashed terror on several Kenyan towns, leaving a trail of deaths and spooking tourists, denying the country the crucial forex inflows.
Security experts say the drone could also be used to execute precision guided attacks on the militants, track their communication and possibly foil the training of new recruits.
READ: Kenya boosts China ties with Sh7.9bn arms purchase deal
This would place Kenya in the league of nations that have turned to drones to combat organised crime, including the United States, which has over the years increased its use of unmanned aircraft in war under President Barack Obama.
The Sipri report indicates that Kenya and Cameroon are the only African nations that have ordered the ScanEagle – a product of Insitu, a subsidiary of giant US aircraft maker Boeing.
The ScanEagle is currently in use by a number of countries including Britain, Australia, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Netherlands, according to Sipri.
Security experts say the drone might just be what the doctor ordered for Kenya’s military operations in tumultuous Somalia as it facilitates a coordinated and smart approach to terrorism.
“This will enable consistency in monitoring known Al Shabaab infiltration routes into Kenya as well as criminal gangs smuggling commodities across the common border,” said a Nairobi-based security expert Andrew Franklin.
 
Due to sensitivity of the matter, the SCAN EAGLE POWERFUL DRONE, landed in the country in September, and is well on heels at surveillance.
 
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