Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has commissioned a helicopter maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility at Nakosongola Air Base. The facility is refurbishing the country’s military Mi-24 helicopters.
It is a joint undertaking by the UPDF’s commercial arm, the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC), and Pro-heli International, a Russian company. The two have been working together for the past five years are expected to move as Uganda continues to gain its footing in establishing a military-industrial base and becoming more independent.
Museveni expressed ambitious plans saying that the MRO facility will be developed into a hub not only for the entire East African Region including United Nations Missions that use Russian helicopters but for the entire continent.
The MRO facility will greatly cut on both the financial and time burden that the landlocked country has experienced in hauling the choppers for repairs outside the country.
The commissioning of the facility comes as #OperationShujaa, a joint military operation with DRC against ISCAP terrorists is in full swing. The operation has entered its second phase and the outcomes of the intervention have been yielding results against an ever-evolving militancy in Beni and Ituri province of DRC with its origins in Uganda
