UK-Made Equipment Found in Sudan Raises Fears of Arms Diversion to Accused Militia
A UN-seen dossier shows British-made military equipment in Sudanese battlefields, prompting scrutiny of UK arms exports to the UAE.
British military equipment has been recovered from sites controlled by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group accused of genocide, according to The Guardian citing two evidence dossiers provided to the UN Security Council. The documents indicate that UK-manufactured small-arms target systems and British-made engines used in UAE-produced armored personnel carriers were found on Sudanese battlefields amid a devastating civil war now in its third year.
The conflict between the RSF and Sudan’s army has killed at least 150,000 people, displaced more than 12 million, and left nearly 25 million facing severe hunger. Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including attacks on civilians.
The discovery has intensified concerns about the United Kingdom’s ongoing approvals of arms exports to the United Arab Emirates, which has repeatedly been accused of supplying weapons to the RSF despite UN embargoes. The UAE denies providing military support to the militia.
According to the dossiers dated June 2024 and March 2025, photos from Khartoum and Omdurman appear to show small-arms target devices labeled as products of Militec, a Welsh manufacturer whose exports to the UAE date back more than a decade.
Investigators also identified British-made engines in Nimr Ajban armored personnel carriers recovered from RSF positions. The vehicles are manufactured in the UAE but have previously been traced to embargo-violating transfers in Libya and Yemen. The engine components did not require a specialized export licence, meaning their end use was not monitored.
Experts say the findings raise serious legal and ethical questions for the UK. Mike Lewis, a researcher and former UN investigator on Sudan, warned that British law prohibits arms exports when there is a clear risk of diversion or involvement in international crimes. Sudanese diaspora representatives in the UK have called for an urgent investigation into how the equipment reached RSF forces.
The UK government maintains it enforces one of the world’s most rigorous export control regimes. Licensing decisions are reviewed case-by-case, and officials say exports to the UAE have been rejected when diversion risks were judged too high. The UAE has declined to comment on the new evidence.
Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies warn Sudan’s war continues to spiral, pushing millions toward famine as the international community debates both accountability and the flow of foreign weapons sustaining the conflict.
