Reuters: Former U.S. Soldier Linked to RSF Supply Chain

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A Reuters investigative report has found that companies controlled by former U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Stephen Schaulis operated aging Boeing aircraft that flew to key logistics hubs used by Sudans Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during the countrys civil war. Reuters said it found no evidence that Schaulis or his companies are under sanctions or facing official allegations of wrongdoing.

The investigation was based on corporate and aviation records, aircraft sales and employment contracts, satellite imagery, flight-tracking data, mobile phone location data, social media posts, and interviews with more than 40 intelligence officials, diplomats, aviation executives, weapons experts, and regional analysts.

Reuters traced the investigation back to a Boeing 737 destroyed by the Sudanese army at Nyala airport in May 2025. The army said the aircraft was supplying the RSF. According to a source cited by Reuters, the strike killed 54 people, including 51 RSF fighters, as well as a pilot and a ground engineer employed by a UAE-registered company owned by Schaulis.

The news agency also tracked two Boeing 727 aircraft linked to Schaulis-controlled companies after they were transferred from the United States and Brazil to Chad. The aircraft later flew between logistics hubs in Chad, Libya and Somalia before reaching Nyala in Sudans Darfur region.

According to Reuters, the three aircraft landed at least 16 times at airports in Bosaso (Somalia), Kufra (Libya), and Nyala, while they were frequently based in the military section of NDjamena International Airport in Chad.

U.N. experts, intelligence officials and diplomats told Reuters that these hubs formed part of a major air bridge supplying the RSF during its 18-month siege of El Fasher, which ended with the citys capture in October 2025.

Christopher Carlson, Sudan Project Coordinator at Small Arms Survey, told Reuters that the RSF relies on "clearly international" supply networks involving multiple air and land routes, logistics providers and intermediaries.

The report notes that Schaulis heads Singapore-based CADG, whose companies have carried out contracts for the U.S. government and U.N. agencies for more than two decades. Reuters calculated that Schaulis-linked firms received at least 419 million in U.S. government contracts and more than 160 million in U.N. contracts over the past 20 years.

U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric confirmed that CADG had previously worked for the United Nations but said the organization was unaware of the aircraft or operations described in the investigation and that the company had not carried out U.N. work inside Sudan.

Schaulis declined to answer Reuters detailed questions about his companies or the aircraft. Neither the RSF nor the Sudanese Armed Forces responded to Reuters requests for comment.

Reuters also cited sanctions experts as saying that knowingly providing transport or logistical services to the RSF could violate U.S. and U.N. sanctions regimes. The United Arab Emirates reiterated that its role in Sudan is limited to humanitarian assistance, while the U.S. Department of Defense and authorities in eastern Libya did not respond to Reuters inquiries.