After rumors persisted for months, Algeria confirmed that it is the first foreign customer of the Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter.
According to state TV Algeriariot, the first fighter should be delivered in 2025, which had been anticipated by Rosoboronexport, the Russian export agency, earlier this week during Aero India 2025.
Algerian media also reported that the country’s air force pilots are already undergoing training in Russia.
The total number of aircraft was not revealed, but it is estimated that there will be only six Su-57 fighters.
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During the Zhuhai Airshow in China in November 2024, Russia had already announced that it had closed the first foreign sale of the Su-57E, an export variant of the alleged 5th generation fighter.
The Algerian Air Force is a traditional operator of Russian combat aircraft. It currently has 30 MiG-29 fighters, 63 Sukhoi Su-30s in service, as well as 42 Su-24 attack jets and 16 Yak-130 trainers.
The Russian government has taken the Su-57 to exhibitions abroad in countries that have friendly relations with Moscow, such as China and India, but so far there has been no sales agreement.
The two nations with a population of over 1 billion people have invested in their own projects, especially China, whose fighters are more advanced than the Su-57.
In addition to Algeria, North Korea and Iran are potential customers for Sukhoi fighters, given their explicit support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Su-57 fighter is the first developed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the project took many years to enter series production.
The Russian Air Force has an order for 76 aircraft, of which about two dozen have been delivered in recent years.
