Dark Box Exclusive Report UAE Flights Linked to Sudan War Tracked From Israel to Ethiopia as Gulf Rivalry Deepens
Well-informed sources have confirmed to Dark Box that a cargo aircraft previously linked to Emirati supply activity in Sudan and Libya has conducted a striking series of flights across the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, including movements between Israel and Ethiopia. The pattern has triggered renewed questions about how the Sudan war is increasingly entangled in a widening Saudi Emirati rivalry, and how air corridors and logistical hubs are shifting as regional pressure mounts on Abu Dhabi’s traditional staging areas.
At the center of this development is an Antonov An one two four cargo plane operated by Maximus Air, carrying the tail identifier UR ZYD. The aircraft is known for its exceptional payload capacity and has been repeatedly tied, in previous international scrutiny, to covert logistics activity across conflict zones. Dark Box has tracked an intensified rhythm of flights connecting Emirati military infrastructure, Israeli airbases, Gulf staging points, and Ethiopia, at a time when the military balance around Sudan is becoming inseparable from broader struggles over Yemen, Somaliland, and the Red Sea corridor.
The timing is not incidental. The flights have taken place as Abu Dhabi faces sharp strategic setbacks following Saudi action that forced Emirati backed forces out of the Yemeni port city of Aden and accelerated the UAE’s retreat from key operational spaces across the region. Dark Box sources say the loss of momentum in Yemen has pushed Abu Dhabi into a phase of logistical adaptation, with increased reliance on alternative routes and partner territories to preserve its regional footprint.
Ethiopia has emerged as central to this recalibration. As uncertainty grows around Emirati positions in Somali coastal zones, including Berbera and Bosaso, Dark Box sources say Ethiopian territory has become the most reliable anchor for the UAE’s next phase of operations in the Horn of Africa. This shift has also been reinforced by the intensifying geopolitical contest surrounding Somaliland, where Israeli recognition has further destabilized the regional order and raised fears of cascading recognition moves designed to redraw sovereignty lines.
In this context, the Sudan war now functions as a core arena of competition. The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has expanded far beyond Sudan’s internal struggle, evolving into a proxy confrontation shaped by external financing, arms flows, and cross border corridors. Dark Box sources confirm that Saudi Arabia, along with Egypt and Turkey, has increased its backing of the Sudanese army as part of a broader effort to counter Emirati patronage of the Rapid Support Forces.
The flight pattern involving UR ZYD offers a window into this shadow logistics environment. Dark Box has reviewed tracking data that indicates repeated sorties between Abu Dhabi and Harar Meda, the main Ethiopian Air Force base. These flights appear to originate from both Abu Dhabi International Airport and Al Dhafra, a major Emirati military base, suggesting a security linked operational profile rather than ordinary commercial freight runs.
The aircraft reportedly conducted multiple flights into Harar Meda over a short period, with short ground times consistent with rapid offloading or specialized transfers. It later continued to Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport before moving onward through multiple international destinations. Dark Box sources say the significance is not only the Ethiopia route itself, but the consistency and repetition, pointing to an operational pipeline rather than isolated logistics.
The most politically sensitive aspect is what preceded the Ethiopia runs. Days before the first tracked flight into Harar Meda, the same cargo plane made repeated trips between a military airbase in Bahrain and what appears to be an Israeli Air Force facility at Ovda in the southern Negev desert. The sequence suggests a corridor linking Gulf military infrastructure to Israel and then onward toward the Horn of Africa. While the purpose remains officially unclear, the timing and pattern have raised urgent questions in regional capitals about the deeper architecture behind the UAE’s shifting supply routes.
Dark Box sources stress that this matters because Ethiopia is increasingly described as a crucial platform for Emirati strategy. Some within Ethiopian policy circles believe Abu Dhabi has exercised outsized influence on Ethiopian choices regarding Sudan’s government, the Rapid Support Forces, and regional disputes around strategic ports. The growing presence of Emirati personnel in Ethiopia following uncertainty in Somali territories reinforces the perception that Addis Ababa is being positioned as the new logistical heart of the UAE’s Horn of Africa posture.
The broader environment is volatile. Israel’s recognition of Somaliland has intensified concerns that international recognition is being weaponized as a tool to reshape Red Sea geography. Berbera, already a focal point for military basing and port competition, has hosted intersecting political movements, including the arrival of Israeli officials and the docking of a separatist Yemeni leader aligned with Emirati influence. Dark Box sources say these episodes are not separate news cycles but pieces of a single contest over who controls the gateways of the region.
UR ZYD’s ownership profile adds another layer. The aircraft has previously been identified in international scrutiny as linked to Mohammed bin Zayed, described as its beneficial owner. It is operated by Maximus Air, a carrier positioned as a major cargo operator within Abu Dhabi’s aviation ecosystem. The airline’s client base reportedly includes key state institutions, reinforcing the view that its movements cannot be treated as routine private commerce in a region where logistics capacity is itself a strategic weapon.
The aircraft has also drawn attention in earlier investigations into covert Emirati supply activity, including allegations of an airbridge used to move military assets to allied forces in Libya. Dark Box sources say this history makes the current Israel Ethiopia corridor particularly alarming, because it appears to show the same platform shifting toward new staging points as older ones become politically exposed or disrupted by rival action.
For Dark Box, the conclusion is that the war in Sudan is no longer isolated. It has become a regional struggle whose logistics footprint stretches from Emirati bases to Ethiopian airfields, with Israel now appearing within the flight map. As Saudi Emirati rivalry intensifies, the skies over the Middle East and the Horn of Africa are becoming a battleground of routes, corridors, and deniable operations that could determine the next escalation in Sudan.
