Huge 66-ft Turkish drones are hunting million-dollar Chinese UAVs in Africa in another war barely anyone talks about

Sudan's army has destroyed at least six Chinese-made CH-95 drones since June 2026 The Akıncı costs roughly $25 million, twelve times more than the CH-95 Armed drones are now the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan Sudan's civil war has continued since April 2023, when the Sudanese Armed Forces

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li><strong>Sudan's army has destroyed at least six Chinese-made CH-95 drones since June 2026</strong></li><li><strong>The Akıncı costs roughly $25 million, twelve times more than the CH-95</strong></li><li><strong>Armed drones are now the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan</strong></li></ul><p>Sudan's civil war has continued since April 2023, when the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) first clashed across the country's cities and provinces.</p><p>Above the battlefields, a quieter contest has unfolded between two very different classes of unmanned aircraft flying for opposing sides.</p><p>A Turkish-built Bayraktar Akıncı has repeatedly intercepted Chinese-made CH-95 drones flown by the RSF this summer.</p><h2 id="turkish-akinci-takes-on-chinese-ch-95">Turkish Akıncı takes on Chinese CH-95</h2><p>The CH-95 is a medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft built for reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and strike missions.</p><p>It weighs around 650 to 1,000 kilograms, carries a payload of up to 170 kilograms, and its endurance can exceed 12 hours depending on configuration, with a reported flight ceiling above 7,000 meters.</p><p>The Akıncı belongs to a substantially heavier class, with a maximum takeoff weight around 6,000 kilograms, payload capacity of up to 1,350 kilograms, and endurance exceeding 24 hours.</p><p>Its reported service ceiling is about 13,700 meters, while its wingspan is roughly 20 meters (66 feet).</p><p>According to footage shared by <a href="https://x.com/clashreport/status/2089296355646738641?" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Clash Report on X</a>, a Bayraktar Akıncı is shown engaging a Chinese-made CH-95 in midair.</p><p>The footage appears to capture the interception from the Akıncı’s perspective, with the opposing drone visible before the engagement ends.</p><p>The incident followed several other reported CH-95 and FH-95 losses since June 23, creating a growing pattern involving these aircraft families.</p><p>At least six Chinese-made <a href="https://www.techradar.com/cameras/drones/best-drone">drones</a> have reportedly been destroyed since then, with several losses attributed to Akıncı interceptions.</p><h2 id="a-costly-contest-above-sudan">A costly contest above Sudan</h2><p>This drone contest above Sudan is proving to be very expensive both in human losses and financially.</p><p>Reported estimates show the Akıncı costs about $25 million per aircraft, while an Air University study puts the CH-95 near $2 million from Serbia's SIPRI-recorded purchase.</p><p>This is a lot of money to spend on drone warfare for a region that has practically been at war since 2003, when the first Darfur conflict erupted.</p><p>United Nations officials have separately warned that drone warfare is causing severe civilian harm across Sudan, especially in Kordofan and other contested regions.</p><p>“Armed drones have now become by far and away the leading cause of civilian deaths,” said Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.</p><p>The United Nations said drone strikes accounted for at least 880 civilian deaths between January and April 2026, representing more than 80% of conflict-related civilian deaths.</p><p>Those figures put the reported Akıncı and CH-95 encounters within a much broader drone war whose consequences extend well beyond military aircraft.</p><p>The Akıncı carries radar and air combat weapons, allowing it to engage aircraft without relying solely on ground-based air defenses.</p><p>That capability matters because the CH-95 is intended to remain airborne for long periods while gathering information across wide areas.</p><p>Sudanese forces have therefore used the Akıncı for a role differing from conventional armed drone missions against ground positions.</p><p>Earlier reports from July described an Akıncı firing an air combat missile at a CH-95 northwest of El Obeid in North Kordofan.</p><p>Another operation reportedly destroyed a second Chinese-made aircraft on the ground, although involved forces did not independently confirm those claims.</p><p>Human rights investigators have documented Chinese equipment among RSF weapons, while allegations of Emirati involvement in supply routes remain disputed.</p><p>The United Arab Emirates has repeatedly denied supplying military support to either side, making claims about specific aircraft difficult to independently verify.</p><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:676px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:31.51%;"><img id="diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78" name="tr-g_news" alt="Google logo on a black background next to text reading 'Click to follow TechRadar'" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="676" height="213" attribution="" endorsement="" 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