Khaberni - An American investigation has uncovered a secret military base in the heart of the Egyptian Western Desert from where advanced drones are launched, conducting deep airstrikes inside Sudanese territory.
According to the investigation published by the "New York Times," the base is "camouflaged" next to giant wheat crop circles that appear as engineering drawings from space, as its runway seems theoretically a part of an ambitious agricultural project.
This base, known as Sharq Al Owainat Airport, has transformed over the past six months at least into a main hub for drone warfare, which has become a prominent feature in the ongoing Sudanese civil war of more than one thousand days.
The "New York Times" investigation relied on satellite imagery from companies like "Planet Labs" and "Venture," flight records, field video footage, as well as interviews with American, European, and Arab officials.
The newspaper's sources revealed that Turkish-made "Akinci" drones are launched from this base to target the Rapid Support Forces, the main adversary to the Port Sudan forces in the civil war.
This intervention marks a qualitative shift in Egypt's position, which until recently played a diplomatic role in the Sudanese crisis, but now it seems that Cairo has entered the battle directly alongside the Sudanese army, adding a new dimension to a conflict fueled by multiple foreign interventions.
The signs of Egyptian escalation began after the fall of Al-Fashir city in the Darfur region at the end of October 2025, which raised concerns for the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi about the Rapid Support Forces advancing to new areas.
In December 2025, Sisi warned against crossing the "red line," and thereafter, the Turkish drone strikes inside Sudan intensified.
Satellite images also show significant expansion at the airport since 2018, with a second runway and 17 aircraft hangars added. In July 2025, Turkish cargo planes loaded with "Akinci" systems landed, and satellite communication systems were installed.
The "Akinci" aircraft surpasses the "Bayraktar TB2" with a range exceeding 4500 miles and a payload capacity three times greater, costing up to 25 million dollars each.
From this base, the drones launched strikes on Rapid Support Forces supply convoys coming from Libya and Chad; in November 2025, a video showed four trucks burning in the Sudanese desert after crossing the border.
Other strikes targeted gatherings of fighters in Darfur, killing at least 20 people in one of them, according to weapons experts analysis, while the strikes caused massive fires at border crossings like Adekong, destroying buildings and igniting the area.
In response, the Rapid Support Forces have shot down at least four "Akinci" drones in recent months and issued veiled threats of retaliation against the "foreign base" launching the aircraft. Its leader, Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti," stated that any drone taking off from any airport is a legitimate target.
