Leaked internal documents reviewed by Drop Site News reveal details of a years-long military relationship between Uganda and Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, including multimillion-dollar agreements for Hermes surveillance drones, intelligence systems and other military equipment.
The revelations come as Uganda moves toward deploying troops to the Gaza Strip as part of an international “stabilization force” proposed under US President Donald Trump’s "Board of Peace", raising fresh questions about Kampala’s expanding security relationship with the Israeli regime.
Uganda’s parliament authorized the deployment last month. Defense Minister Kiryowa Kiwanuka told lawmakers, “The President of the Republic of Uganda is ready to deploy in the Gaza Strip,” adding that a formal status-of-forces agreement would be negotiated following parliamentary approval.
The Ugandan government has not publicly provided a detailed explanation of the proposed deployment or clarified what role its troops would perform in Gaza, while opposition lawmaker Hassan Kirumira questioned the mission during the parliamentary debate, asking, “On which side is our army going to fight?’”
Millions of dollars in drone contracts
According to the documents reviewed by Drop Site, Elbit Systems has worked with Uganda for years to expand its military drone capabilities and develop supporting surveillance infrastructure for the Ugandan Military Intelligence and Special Forces Command (SFC).
The leaked archive includes a signed March 2024 contract worth $52.1 million for four Hermes 900 drones and supporting infrastructure. The agreement also covers Elbit’s SkEye wide-area surveillance system and ground-based surveillance systems, while identifying Uganda’s government, Military Intelligence and SFC as the end users.
The documents state that Uganda had already transferred $14.2 million to Elbit in 2021, with that amount to be credited toward the expanded agreement.
The records also refer to an AES-210 electronic-intelligence system and a SkyStriker loitering munition system operated by the Ugandan military. SkyStriker is designed to locate and strike targets by crashing into them.
The leaked material indicates that the relationship extended beyond the supply of individual weapons systems, with Elbit involved in developing drone bases, communications infrastructure, maintenance capabilities and systems intended to process intelligence collected by the aircraft.
Uganda’s possession of Hermes 900 drones became publicly known in February 2022 after Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of President Yoweri Museveni and Uganda’s current military chief, posted footage showing Ugandan soldiers alongside the aircraft.
The drone was subsequently identified by defense publication Janes as an Elbit Hermes 900, describing it at the time as a previously undocumented Ugandan capability. A United Nations report later identified a Ugandan-marked drone that crashed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in August 2024 as a Hermes 900 manufactured by Elbit Systems.
Source:Websites
