The Kenya Air Force (KAF) officially received nine Fennec light combat helicopters from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after the aircraft were spotted at a KAF airbase earlier this month.
The Cabinet Secretary for Defense, Ambassador Raychelle Omamo and Commander KAF Major General Francis Ogolla received the helicopters at the Laikipia Air Base, Nanyuki on September 14.
Strategic Intelligence (S.I. Defense) earlier in the month published photos of at least four single-engine AS550 Fennecs (H125Ms) without their main rotor blades on September 5 with Kenyan roundels.
It was earlier reported that eight aircraft were acquired, but the Kenya Defense Force (KDF) confirmed that it had received nine helicopters from the UAE and will most likely be used in its counterterrorism air operations against Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.
The UAE’s Army Aviation Brigade and the Air Force’s Special Operations Command operate a number of AS550C3 Fennec helicopters but little is known about them.
