CH-95 UAV deployed to suspected UAE airbase in Bosaso

A Serbian CH-95 UAV displayed during the Zastava 2024 event at Batajnica Air Base on 20 September 2024. (Wikimedia Commons/Srđan Popović)

An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UAV) that matches the Chinese-made CH-95 has been seen in satellite imagery at the airbase at Bosaso International Airport in the Puntland region of northeast Somalia for the first time, suggesting the type is now being operated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Vantor image from 6 October shows a UAV with the same twin-boom planform as the CH-95 and a length and wingspan of approximately 7.2 m and 12.5 m. While official dimensions for the CH-95 have never been released, these match those seen in Vantor imagery of the CH-95 that the Serbian military displayed at Batajnica Air Base in September 2024. No other UAVs with a matching planform and dimensions are known to be in service.

Mystery base

The operator of the airbase at Bosaso has never been officially acknowledged but is widely assumed to be the UAE as the facility is connected to the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) base to the west of the airport.

Established as a counter-piracy force with the UAE's support in 2010, the PMPF has subsequently expanded into a land-based force tasked with hunting the local branch of the Islamic State extremist movement in Puntland's mountainous hinterland.

Work on the airbase began in November 2022, when a concrete apron was poured and connected to the airport's runway and two hangars built. It was subsequently expanded with another four hangars and personnel facilities that include a mosque and sports field.