After the publication of a series of satellite images of the Ain Beida/Oum el Bouaghi Air Base, speculation appears to have been confirmed that Russia transferred to the Algerian Air Force the Su-35 fighters originally manufactured for Egypt, with at least one of them seen in the open. The news was published in a report prepared by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), based on images obtained by the American company Maxar Technologies, which specializes in geospatial intelligence tasks.
It should be recalled at this point that although there is no official confirmation from any of the parties involved regarding this possible transfer, it would not be surprising news considering the strong existing ties between Algiers and Moscow. One of the most recent illustrative examples is the purchase of fifth-generation Su-57 fighters by the former, making it the first foreign customer of the platform, even though no units have yet been delivered.
It also cannot be ruled out that part of the Su-35s originally destined for the Egyptian Air Force may also have been transferred to its counterpart in Iran to advance the replacement of the aging U.S.-origin F-14 Tomcat fighters—another country closely allied with Russia in defense matters. In this case, there are no publicly available satellite images to confirm this, although it was confirmed by one of the commanders of the Revolutionary Guard during an interview with local media in January.
To explain why these fighters may have ended up in destinations different from those originally planned, it is useful to mention that since 2019, Washington had threatened to apply the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to pressure Egypt into abandoning the purchase it had closed the previous year for around 3 billion dollars, facing multiple sanctions if it failed to do so. At that time, it was estimated that the Yuri Gagarin production plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur had already manufactured a dozen Su-35 aircraft, which were visible outdoors in one of the facility’s yards. Some analysts also note that, had everything proceeded normally, deliveries to Cairo should have begun in 2022. That never happened, as the purchase was canceled in 2020.
On the other hand, it should be mentioned that in addition to this indicator of the need to find new buyers, there are reports that would also lend credibility to the news, considering images of a Russian Aerospace Forces An-124 Condor aircraft preparing to load a supposed Su-35 fuselage in the aforementioned Amur region. Later, new images showed the presence of an aircraft of this type with similar markings arriving at the Ain Beida/Oum el Bouaghi Air Base, after which the first fighter equipped with Algerian insignia was observed. At the same time, four units stored at the Yuri Gagarin plant were also receiving their markings from the African country.
Image credits: Maxar Technologies
You may also like: The Russian Aerospace Forces received the first batch of new Sukhoi Su-35S fighters of 2025
