During the Ambush in Africa in 2018, Raiden encountered the rebuilt UG during his mission to protect Prime Minister N'mani in Africa. Just before his arrival at N'mani's immobilized limousine, RAY attacked the Maverick bodyguards defending it, now accompanied by Sundowner. It utilized its plasma cannon to flip over the limousine, while destroying a large building in the process. Making his escape with N'mani, Sundowner left Raiden to deal with the "reborn" Metal Gear. The commander of Maverick, Boris Vyacheslavovich Popov, expressed utter shock that Desperado actually had, and was using, a Metal Gear.