Algerian Air Force Projects Power Into Central Africa as Su-30MKA Fighters Support Niger

The Algerian Air Force has made a landmark deployment of fighter aircraft to neighbouring Niger following a failed military coup in the capital, Niamey, marking a significant expansion of Algiers' direct military involvement in Central African security affairs. The deployment came after Nigerien forces, with assistance from Russia's Africa Corps, regained control of key military and government facilities targeted by rogue elements of the armed forces. Footage from Niamey showed four Su-30 fighters, accompanied by an Il-78 aerial-refuelling aircraft, with fighters described as comprising two patrols.

Algeria's Ministry of National Defence announced on August 30 that, at the request of Niger's military authorities, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had ordered the deployment of two squadrons of Su-30 fighter aircraft to support the Nigerien Army against what the ministry described as attempts to destabilise the country. The coup attempt on August 29 saw personnel attack strategic facilities including Air Base 101 at Diori Hamani International Airport, the presidential palace area and the state broadcaster. Nigerien authorities subsequently announced that loyalist forces had restored control over the affected sites. 

The latest deployment is not Algeria's first military assistance to Niger this month. Earlier in August, Algiers supplied Niger with two Mi-24V attack helicopters and two Mi-171 multirole helicopters, together with ammunition, spare parts, maintenance equipment and other logistical support. Algeria also closed its airspace to French military aircraft in 2023 after France threatened to launch an attack on Niger, following the overthrow of the country’s French-backed government that year. 

The governments of Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali, which were established in the early 2020s following the overthrow of French-backed authorities, have all argued that Western governments, and particularly France, are attempting to regain influence through political destabilisation, coup attempts, support for opposition networks, and backing for armed insurgencies. These governments have increasingly prioritised strengthening security ties with Algeria and Russia to counter continued European efforts to undermine them.