The United States Army plans to construct a hangar in Soroti District for the five Bell UH-1H Huey II helicopters given to Uganda last year by Washington as part of efforts to bolster the ongoing fight against al-Shabaab militias in Somalia.
The facility shall consist of a new helicopter hangar with maintenance capabilities and apron” with the facility expected to accommodate up to 12 staff. The market research has placed the construction at an estimated between 1.8 and 3.6 billion Ugandan shillings. The hangar will be located in Soroti to facilitate the training of pilots seeing as there is a flying school in the area and as such, it is also a capacity building for the Ugandan Air Force.
In November 2017 the US government provided five Huey II helicopters, valued at $80m (approximately Shs292b) to Uganda to directly support the UPDF and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) operations.
