Kenya is scheduled to receive 16 U.S.-manufactured helicopters between late 2024 and summer 2025 to bolster its ability to provide regional peace and security (8 Hueys) and participate in peacekeeping missions (8 MD-500s).
Moreover, Kenya selected approximately 150 M1117 Armored Security Vehicles from U.S. Excess Defense Article stocks, which are projected to arrive in Kenya September 2024.
The United States welcomes Kenya’s hosting of and participation in some of the largest U.S. military exercises in Africa, including Exercise JUSTIFIED ACCORD – the second largest U.S. military exercise in Africa – and Exercise CUTLASS EXPRESS, which focuses on building interoperability amongst multinational partners in the maritime environment.
In summer 2024, for the first time the Kenya Defence Forces have candidates starting courses at the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy, building on a long tradition of the majority of Kenyan general officers benefitting from U.S. International Military Education Training courses.
The U.S. military currently has seven advisors in Kenya supporting Kenyan aviators and for the first time, the United States is providing a Strategic Logistics Advisor to Kenya’s Ministry of Defence. Kenya’s U.S.-trained Disaster Response Battalion has also been involved in recent search and rescue operations in response to recent flooding in Kenya.
