Arsenal Upgrades: MANPADS, the RSF, and the War in Sudan

Despite a 20-year international campaign to combat the threat from illicit man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), acquisition and use of these weapons by non-state armed groups continues, especially in the Middle East and North Africa region. While international concern over MANPADS proliferation has traditionally focused on the threat of terrorist-designated groups' acquisition and use, this Briefing Paper highlights a broader challenge emerging from the conflict in Sudan: the proliferation of advanced weapons systems to powerful non-state armed groups possessing military capabilities more commonly associated with state armed forces. Sudan provides perhaps the clearest example of this trend, with documented evidence since April 2023 showing members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with at least eight models of MANPADS, including recent-generation systems not previously seen outside of government control.

Arsenal Upgrades: MANPADS, the RSF, and the War in Sudan—a new Briefing Paper from the Small Arms Survey’s Human Security Baseline Assessment for Sudan and South Sudan project—examines the illicit possession of MANPADS by the RSF and assesses the implications of this proliferation for conventional weapons threat mitigation efforts.