Su-57s to Bolster Algerian Fleet Against Worsening Threats: Russia Confirms Stealth Fighter Export Deliveries in 2025

At the MILEX international arms and military hardware show in Minsk, the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation press office confirmed that the first foreign client for the Su-57 fifth generation fighter would begin to operationalise the aircraft before the end of2025. “The first foreign customer of the Su-57E will start operating the aircraft already in 2025,” the office observed, with Russian state media commenting that the Su-57 was “the world’s sole fifth-generation fighter that has proven its ability in a real combat environment to efficiently counter Western-made air defence systems.” This follows a report from Algerian state media on February 12 which for the first time confirmed longstanding reports that the country had become the first client for the Su-57,revealing that deliveries of the aircraft werescheduled to begin later in the year, and that Algerian pilots wereundergoing training in Russia. This will make Algeria the first country in the world to import a fifth generation fighter class other than the F-35, and the first country in Africa or the Arab world with such a capability. At a time of deteriorating relations between Algeria and its former colonial ruler France, it will also place the African state’s air force years ahead of the French Air Force in fielding a fifth generation level capability.

Algeria has consistently been considered the leading potential client for the Su-57, with strong signs having emerged since2020 that the Algerian Defence Ministry was planning to procure the fighters. Algerian military officials were seen holding models of the aircraft on state television that year while in talks with visiting Russian officials, with a collage of the fighter having also been installed at the country’s defence ministry a few weeks beforehand. The Algerian Air Force is already considered to have by far the greatest combat potential of the fleets African, Arab and Muslim-majority countries, with the NATO assault against its neighbour Libya in 2011 considered a major factor stimulating renewed investment in advanced aerial warfare capabilities. The country’s security situation remains far from favourable, with friendly Arab governments in Libya and Syria having been toppled by Western and Turkish interventions, while Turkey and Israel, which are both considered adversaries, have continued to bolster neighbouring Moroccan defence capabilities and deploy forces to the country. Al Qaeda linked jihadist forces in Libya, which are considered hostile to Algeria, have also received extensive Turkish support, including for offensive drone operations. Major U.S.-led military exercises in the region have meanwhile also appeared tosimulate attackson Algerian territory.

A leading uncertainty in Algeria’s procurement of new Russian fighters remains whether the country will procure the baseline Su-57 currently fielded by the Russian Air Force, or whether it will receive the much more capable Su-57M1 variant with enhanced AL-51F1 engines, which is expected to begin production in 2025. The Su-57M1 integrates a new radar, and has a wider airframe better suited to sustained supersonic cruising flights and to reducing its radar cross section. One significant possibility is that Algeria will procure the baseline Su-57 for an initial squadron, and may subsequently place followup orders for future variants in larger numbers in the 2030s to replace its Su-30MKA fighters.

Algerian orders are expected to add momentum to Russian efforts to export the Su-57, after foreign interest in the aircraft was reportedly increased due to its intensive combat testing in the Ukrainian theatre. This has included air defence suppression, air to air combat, and operations in heavily defended enemy airspace. Leading potential clients considered likely to place orders before 2030 include India, Vietnam and North Korea, with the Indian Defence Ministry confirmed in March to be considering a major license production deal for the fighters. The strong performance of the Pakistan Air Force’s J-10C fighters in clashes in early May are expected to have further stimulated Indian interest in fielding fifth generation fighters, with the Su-57 considered its only near term option for doing so.