Côte d'Ivoire unveils Wing Loong II UAVs

A still taken from the video released by the FACI shows Ivorian personnel working on a Wing Loong II UAV fitted with what looks like a COMINT pod. (Forces Armées de Côte d'Ivoire)

The Armed Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FACI) has confirmed it now has Chinese-made Wing Loong II medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The acquisition was first announced during the military parade marking the anniversary of Côte d'Ivoire's independence on 7 August, when the commentator for the television coverage said Wing Loong IIs had been acquired by the air force, although these did not feature in the flyby. He said the UAVs are equipped with electronic surveillance equipment and can carry missiles and bombs.

The FACI confirmed the acquisition 10 August when it released a video showing two Wing Loong IIs at a location that could be identified as Bouaké Air Base in the centre of the country. While the UAVs were not fitted with weapons, the narrator said they can provide fire support as well as carry out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.

One of the two UAVs was shown fitted with a centreline pod that looked similar to the communications intelligence (COMINT) pod that the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) displayed with its new Wing Loong X UAV at the Dubai Airshow in November 2025. No information about the pod's capabilities was made available.

The Ivorian Ministry of Defence announced in June 2024 that Minister of Defence Téné Birahima Ouattara had signed a contract with China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) covering the “latest-generation aerial vehicles”. It did not identify the aircraft.