A report dated October 14, 2021 from the “Congressional Research Service (CRS) or (US Congressional Research Center), titled“ Russian Arms Sales and Defense Industry ”or“ Russian Arms Sales Abroad ” indicates in the preamble that arms sales promote Russia’s defense and political relations with other countries and support important domestic industries. Above all, it indicates Algeria’s dependence on this country of which it is the third largest customer after China and India.
Some members of Congress have even expressed concern that Russian arms sales support Russia’s aggressive and malicious activities, foster regional conflict and insecurity, and compete with U.S. arms sales, and so on. despite the fact that the US administrations and Congress have imposed sanctions on the Russian defense industry and arms exports. Russia, recalls the CRS, is the world’s second largest exporter of arms, behind the United States. Russia exports arms to more than 45 countries and has accounted for around 20% of global arms sales since 2016. Many countries have long-standing arms relations with Russia, some dating back to the Soviet Union. Despite its global presence, Russia exports the majority of its weapons to five states (listed in alphabetical order): Algeria, China, Egypt, India and Vietnam. India has been the largest importer of Russian arms since 2016. Russia is trying to expand its customer base and aggressively pursue new markets in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Algeria’s biggest defense budget in Africa is heavily dependent on Russia
“Algeria, a global energy exporter with the largest defense budget in Africa, is one of the main destinations for Russian weapons, behind India and China”Said the think tank of the American Congress, noting that over the period 2016-2020, Algeria represented 15% of Russian arms exports. This is due according to the document to “overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, previously a client of Russian armaments, and increased instability in Libya which favored Algeria as the region’s first client”From Russia. “Russia appears determined to retain its market share in Algeria due to strong demand and Algeria’s ability to pay”, We note again. The report goes further and somewhat enumerates the weapons ceded to Algeria “a wide range of Russian weapons acquired by the Algerian army, including some of the most advanced systems available, such as the Iskander-E short-range ballistic missiles, the Kilo-type diesel-electric submarines, the S- 300PMU2 and Pantsyr-S1, anti-tank missiles; Yak 130 and Su-30MK FGA; transport and combat helicopters; T-90S battle tanks… ”
The report of the American CRS notes the strong dependence of Algeria on Russia, which does not date from yesterday, the cordiality of the bonds going back to the war of independence and the cold war with France and this, “although China also provided equipment to this North African country, including self-propelled artillery”. CRS also unveils the establishment of a local defense industry in Algeria, with the creation of a number of joint ventures with foreign partners such as the Italian aerospace and armaments group. Leonardo and the German industrial conglomerate specializing in armaments and automotive equipment Rheinmetall.
Algeria, benefiting in this from the largest defense budget in Africa, and a decade financially good thanks to its energy exports, began to store all kinds of Russian armament. So much so that today it bombs the chest and begins to threaten the entire region that borders on it. The Algerian military relies heavily on Russian arms, and the country has used its oil and natural gas exports to finance numerous arms purchases since embarking on a military modernization effort in the early 2000s. For its part, Russia remains determined to retain its market share in Algeria due to the strong demand and the latter’s ability to pay for Russian arms.
Weapons systems so sophisticated and so limited when put to the test
Yet these weapon systems have shown their limits when put to the test. As during the war in Syria and the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, between Azerbaijan and Armenia (fall 2020). Regarding the Iskander missile, Armenia fired it during the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh, but according to the Prime Minister of that country, they were ineffective. A shot towards the Baku area was intercepted by an Israeli Barak 8 surface-to-air missile, according to Air and Cosmos. Ditto for the Pantsir system. The Israeli army reportedly destroyed a system belonging to the Syrian armed forces in 2018; Turkish drones destroyed several during the Syrian civil war in early 2020 during the offensive of Maarat al-Nouman and Saraqeb. Most of this destruction was filmed.
Also according to the CRS, in 2006, Russia had canceled a debt of 4.6 billion dollars of Algeria in exchange for the signature of 7.5 billion dollars of new contracts of arms. Russia accounted for 80% of Algeria’s arms imports from 2006 to 2013, according to SIPRI. The only downside following tensions between the countries for a certain period, Algeria had returned MiG-29 fighters for their poor quality. Russia then gradually began to lose market share before making a strong comeback. Since 2014, Russia has aggressively sought to reaffirm its role as Algeria’s main arms supplier and for the time being is succeeding in this direction, taking advantage of the disbelief of the Algiers regime.
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