United Arab Emirates Equips Non-State Militias in Yemen and Sudan with Chinese 155mm Artillery

The Untied Arab Emirates has supplied Chinese-made AH4 155mm howitzers to the Southern Giants Brigades paramilitary group in Yemen, marking the latest of multiple procurements of equipment from China by the oil rich Arab state to equip non-state actors abroad. The AH4 was recently also supplied to the Rapid Support Forces insurgent group in Sudan, which is current at war with the Sudanese government, alongside supplies of various air defence systems. The United Arab Emirates is the only confirmed foreign state operator of the AH4, although it remains uncertain whether these were procured primarily to equip foreign non-state groups, or whether they have also seen significant service in the Gulf state’s armed forces. The adoption of more complex equipment in both Sudan and Yemen has been facilitated by the dispatch of mercenaries from abroad, including those from Ukraine, Colombia and Australia, which have also been financed by Abu Dhabi.

The AH4 is manufactured by China’s state-owned defence manufacture Norinco, and is a lightweight and relatively basic 155mm towed howitzer designed with high levels of tactical mobility. The lightweight 4.5 tondesign has significant commonalties with the M777 lightweight howitzer produced by BAE Systems, which has been supplied in significant numbers to the Ukrainain Army and proven significantly more reliable than European-designed artillery systems. The Chinese gun has a 40 kilometre firing range, and can employ a wide variety of munitions types. Although China provides clients with signifiant autonomy in the use of its equipment, both of the war efforts sponsored by Abu Dhabi have undermined the interests of Beijing’s strategic partners in the Middle East and East Africa, raising questions regarding whether China will seek to constrain the procurement of its equipment to support non-state groups like the Rapid Support Forces and the Southern Giants Brigades.