Paramilitary fighters appear to have opened a new phase in the Sudanese civil war, a move that some experts describe as a "shocking and awe movement."

Just weeks after the Army celebrated the recapture of Khartoum, its enemy's Rapid Support Force (RSF) launched an unprecedented series of drone strikes in the port of Sudan in the eastern part of the country.

The attacks have resulted in worsening power outages and urban residents facing water shortages.

"This is a level of power projection that we haven't seen yet," said Alan Boswell, an African crisis expert.

"I think that adds to the bet," he added.

Attacks on wartime capital and humanitarian hubs show that despite the huge territorial losses, the RSF is determined and able to fight.

It shows the growth of advanced drone warfare in Africa.

Drones are playing an increasingly role in the conflict, which is entering its third year.

The war began with the power struggle between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF and attracted the war among other Sudanese armed groups and foreign supporters, putting the country into what the United Nations calls the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

UAVs helped the Army advance earlier this year. The RSF upgraded its use of drones as it was driven out of central Sudan, especially Khartoum, and returned to its traditional stronghold in the western part of the country.

Paramilitary personnel have carried out drone strikes on critical civil infrastructure in Army-controlled areas such as dams and power plants.

But their ongoing attack on Port Sudan, which until now, is a safe haven home for government officials, diplomats and humanitarian organizations, highlights the shift in strategy, places greater emphasis on long-range warfare and is designed to show strength.

"RSF is trying to show that they do not need to reach the Port of Sudan to get there through land," said Sudanese political analyst Kholod Khair.

She said the group was trying to achieve a "narrative shift" from "the Triumph Security Agency that took away Khartoum."

"This is the saying of the Sudanese armed forces: 'You can bring Khartoum back, but you can never rule it. You can have the Port of Sudan, but you will not be able to rule it because the security crisis we will bring to you is so great that it cannot overestimate the war to show the war until they say so."

The paramilitary group has not yet directly addressed the UAV attack on the Port of Sudan. Instead, it reiterated that the SAF was supported by Iran and accused the armed forces of targeting civilian infrastructure and state agencies, saying military strikes against Khartoum and rural war crimes in the western and southern regions.

Both sides were charged with war crimes, but the RSF was picked out due to charges of mass rape and genocide.

Changes in the battlefield may be caused by the necessity of the battlefield, but due to technological advancements are possible.

The RSF has previously used small drones with explosive payloads called suicide or roaming drones, designed to collapse into targets and able to conduct coordinated attacks.

It appears that this approach has been deployed in the Port of Sudan, and the commander of the Red Sea Military Region Mahjoub Bushra described a group of 11 Kamikaze drones during the first strike.

He said the army knocked them down, but they turned out to be a tactical interference that shifted their attention to a strategic drone that successfully attacked the base.

The production of the drone is not yet known. But since the beginning of the year, satellite images reported by Yale University researchers and Reuters have shown drones at an airport in South Darfur.

Defense intelligence company Janes has determined that they are likely complex Chinese-made CH-95s that are capable of conducting remote strikes.

Jeremy Binnie, an African and Middle East analyst at Jane's, told the BBC that photos of the residues of the smaller Kamikaz drone suggest that they may be different from the versions used by the RSF and may be better at penetrating aerial defenses due to their shape.

One regional observer believes that the RSF is able to use drones to attach signal glitches to SAF's leak-proof technology to violate SAF's protection technology, but warns that this is still unproven.

The South Darfur Airport in Nyala, a presumptive capital and military base for rapid support of the troops, has been repeatedly bombed by the SAF, which destroyed an aircraft earlier this month.

Some experts believe that the RSF bombing of the Port of Sudan is at least partly retaliation.

The escalating drone warfare once again underlines the role of foreign actors in the Sudanese civil war.

"It's a technology war," said Justin Lynch, managing director of Concigh Insights Group, a data analysis and research organization.

"That's why foreign supporters are so important, because it's not like RSF making weapons themselves. They're given these things."

The Army accused the United Arab Emirates of providing drones to paramilitary fighters and cutting diplomatic ties with Abu Dhabi due to the attack.

The UAE strongly rejected the charges. It has long denied reports from UN experts, American politicians and international organizations, saying it provides weapons to the RSF.

But Mr. Lynch said the evidence was overwhelming.

He is the lead author of a report funded by the U.S. State Department in the second half of last year, which ended with "almost certainty" that the UAE promoted weapons to the RSF by surveillance of images and aviation patterns of airlines previously involved in violation of the UN arms embargo.

He told the BBC that it would be surprising if the UAEs did not help deliver the drones used in the Port Sudan attack.

He also identified similar near certainty that the Iranians were providing weapons to the SAF and helped verify documents provided to the Washington Post, detailing documents on the Turkish Defense Corporation’s sale of drones and warheads to the military.

Iran did not respond to the allegations. Turkish officials denied participation.

The increasing use of drones on both sides may be redefining the war, but the RSF's ability to strike strategic goals with the region's shocking location hundreds of kilometers.

In the weekly attacks on the Port of Sudan, paramilitary personnel attacked the country's only international airport, power stations, several gas stations and air bases that were working, apparently attempting to undermine the Army's supply lines.

The city is also a major port of access to relief supplies, and the United Nations warns that this "significant escalation" could complicate the country's aid operations and result in massive civilian casualties.

"It not only shocked and awe-inspiring SAF, I think it was also shocked Egypt, Saudi Arabia, others behind the SAF and remake the entire war," Boswell said.

"The RSF is widely considered a non-state actor, and usually such groups can call a lot of rebels. But the government with the Air Force is always an air-capable government, which just makes all these ancient mottos shroud it on its head."

The development triggered a comparison with the long-range drone war between Russia and Ukraine.

"These weapons have more precise accuracy, you no longer need a manned aircraft, and it's more affordable than a refined jet," Mr Binnie said.

“This is part of a broader trend in the spread of technology, and you can see the true high-end capabilities used in the civil war in sub-Saharan Africa.”

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry warned that the attack threatened regional security and the security of the Red Sea navigation, calling on international actors to take "effective action against regional militia sponsors" against the UAE.

Mr Lynch believes that only an agreement between the UAE and the Sudanese army can end the war.

"This war is always evolving, always changing, but you will last for years and decades unless serious diplomatic actions are taken to stop it," he said.