How the UAE Built a Circle of Bases to Control the Gulf of Aden

Dark Box investigation – Leaked Files

In a leaked cache of documents obtained by Dark Box and verified through satellite imagery, a picture emerges of the UAE’s unprecedented military buildup across the Gulf of Aden. Stretching from the volcanic cliffs of Mayun Island to the contested ports of Somalia, the Emirati regime has quietly erected a ring of military, intelligence, and logistics bases that now form a lattice of control over one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors.

This expansion, though strategically framed under humanitarian and counterterrorism pretenses, reveals a far-reaching ambition: to exert dominance over shipping routes, intervene in African conflicts, and cement regional power alongside its Israeli and American allies.

Socotra Archipelago: The Crown Jewel

The first pillar of this arc of control is Socotra — a UNESCO World Heritage site once known for its biodiversity and now transformed into a dual-use forward operating base. Following Cyclone Chapala in 2015, the UAE deployed troops under the guise of aid delivery. Since then, the archipelago has fallen under the grip of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the UAE’s proxy in Yemen.

Leaked satellite data from 2023–2025 shows reinforced runways, early warning radar installations, and hangars large enough to house Israeli-made Hermes 900 drones. At the northern tip of Abd al-Kuri island, a 2.4 km runway now accommodates C-130 Hercules aircraft, alongside underground storage bunkers for weapons and electronic warfare equipment. Intelligence officers from Israel landed just months before the UAE normalized relations with Tel Aviv under the Abraham Accords.

Nearby Samhah Island, though smaller and more rugged, hosts a surveillance airstrip. Between March and April 2025, military engineering vessels deposited materials onto a temporary sandbar to allow for runway grading. UAVs now monitor maritime traffic entering the Gulf of Aden.

The Mayun Stronghold

At the mouth of the Red Sea, Mayun Island—strategically positioned in the Bab al-Mandab strait—hosts a covert airbase. The UAE has long denied involvement, but satellite evidence now shows resurfaced runways, drone hangars, and fortified barracks.

Mayun’s location allows immediate projection of power across both the Red Sea and Horn of Africa. It also links directly with Emirati naval facilities in Berbera and Bosaso, on the Somali coast. These are not temporary outposts—they are enduring footholds in the heart of regional geopolitics.

Berbera and Bosaso: The Somali Flanks

In Somaliland and Puntland, the UAE has leveraged regional autonomy and separatist aspirations to entrench itself. In Berbera, the airbase and naval port are fully operational, with 4 km of runway and a new deep-water dock. The facility also connects to a railway project recently awarded to the UAE for export routes into Ethiopia.

Further east, Bosaso has evolved into a multi-purpose hub. Under Emirati control, the former PMPF facility now includes drone hangars, a French GM-403 radar system, and logistical centers used to transfer weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan. Flights tracked from Bosaso to Nyala in Darfur, and to al-Malha near el-Fasher, confirm this support.

IL-76 and C-130 cargo planes make regular deliveries. On any given month in 2025, between 10–15 such flights were recorded. The timing of these shipments aligns with major RSF offensives, according to leaked coordination charts.

Coordinated with Israel

Dark Box-leaked slides show the UAE and Israel are formal intelligence partners under a program dubbed “Crystal Ball.” It combines satellite imagery, cyber tools, and early warning systems. Israeli technicians routinely rotate through Socotra and Mayun. The base network allows Israel to extend radar coverage deep into Yemen, the Gulf of Aden, and Sudan.

In February 2023, the two nations also unveiled a jointly developed unmanned surface vessel, capable of reconnaissance and mine detection. These platforms operate between Mayun and Berbera.

Expansion Amid Genocide

The acceleration of base construction coincides with Israel’s war on Gaza and growing regional instability. While public focus has remained on the humanitarian disaster, the UAE-Israel military architecture has grown rapidly in parallel. Several of the newly built radar installations and surveillance drones are calibrated to monitor Houthi activity, especially as the Yemen-based group continues to target ships in the Red Sea.

Sudan: The War That Won’t End

The most alarming finding from the Dark Box leaks is the UAE’s continued arming of the RSF, even after the U.S. declared that the group was committing genocide. The UAE denies involvement, yet the supply chains lead directly to Emirati bases.

Bosaso and Berbera are used as launch points for these operations, with UAE-controlled ships offloading military aid in Sudan via coastal routes. This same network links to UAE outposts in Libya, Chad, Uganda, and CAR—effectively surrounding Sudan in a ring of influence.

A Shadow Empire

Though rarely acknowledged, the UAE’s expansion is imperial in scale. Its wealth, its ambition, and its strategic alignment with Israel have turned it into a power player across the Horn of Africa. Yet this has come at a cost: the erosion of sovereignty in fractured states, the prolongation of brutal conflicts, and the militarization of trade routes that were once neutral.

The Gulf of Aden is no longer a shared maritime highway. It is an increasingly securitized corridor patrolled by a tight-knit alliance with few checks and fewer limits.