Algerian Air Force Size

K

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
The airforce is not there to fight the guerillas, it's to counter the considerable air forces of Lybia and Morocco. When you consider that Morocco has just ordered F-16 Block 52 - and Lybia has a MoU on Rafale and some 400+ airworthy (comparably obsolete) fixed-wing aircraft - it does make some sense.

The numbers in wikipedia are rather screwy though of course.

Examples:
  • the "44 Su-30MKA". Those are actually a contract on 28 Su-30MKI(A), and the current offer of Algeria to exchange the contract of 34 MiG-29SMT/UBT for 14-16 further Su-30MKI(A) - not yet oked by Russia though afaik.
    The 8 active aircraft might be correct; out of those contracts, Algeria had received 4 (four) aircraft as of 03/2008.
  • the "12 MiG-25" (of various variants): primarily used for recon. And about half of them are in storage in Ukraine anyway. Diminishing numbers, originally 29 MiG-25P/U/RB were delivered in 1979.
  • the MiG-29 numbers. actual deliveries are 8 MiG-29UB from Russia (via Belarus), 5 MiG-29A from Ukraine, 28 MiG-29S from Belarus. A further 15 MiG-29SMT from Russia were returned early this year, those were bought on a contract that would trade the above 36 MiG-29S/UB for 34 MiG-29SMT/UBT. No idea how they get 86 (!) MiG-29S... or wait. I do. There were 86 MiG-21MF/UB delivered originally in the 70s, and the MiG-29 are supposed to replace these. Except they don't do it in the same numbers.
  • Su-24, minor thing in comparison: 35 MK, 2 MR bought since 1991. Doesn't make 19 "recon variant", or 39 total.
Numbers from SIPRI, which i trust far more than random wikipedia entries.
 
K

kato

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Another note on the MiG-29: At least three crashed. That explains why there are only 36 aircraft to trade for new ones.

As for their MiG-23, they're also part of the "trade-in contract" - or at least some of them. Active numbers have occasionally been stated as "around 30", not the "56" on wikipedia. The Algerian MiG-23 use downgraded systems (MiG-21 radar, no IRST) and can't fire any AAMs other than the obsolete AA-2 Atoll.

The Zlin-142 and Fernas-142 in the list are actually identical. Combined number around 45. Safir-43 (aka Zlin-43) are only listed with 5 units in SIPRI though, not 20.

Mi-8/17 helos: 35 Mi-8T, 47 Mi-8MTV, 42 Mi-171Sh in SIPRI, 2/5/2 less in wiki. Considering the Mi-8MTV were only delivered 10 years ago, 10% losses seem somewhat high.
Mi-24 helos: 36 Mi-24D (Mi-25), 44 Mi-24V (Mi-35) delivered. Wikipedia combines them both (total number 70, likely), and claims they're all upgraded, rather unlikely.
 
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