Algeria set to acquire Chinese Aircrafts
June 29, 2026
Algeria is finalizing an agreement to take its first Chinese combat aircraft, the Chengdu J-10C fighter jets, and the Shaanxi KJ-500 early warning aircraft, with deliveries reportedly starting in 2027. The report circulated in mid-June 2026, Algeria would become the first African state to fly both types if this holds up.
The Algerian Air Force has run an all-Russian combat fleet for decades, including Su-30MKA multirole fighters, Su-24 strike jets, and MiG-29 variants.
Algeria has taken delivery of Su-35 air superiority fighters, originally built for
Egypt and diverted after Cairo’s order fell through, with the first aircraft spotted at Ain Beida air base in March 2025. Su-34M strike jets in camouflage scheme followed, and a video from February 2026 appears to show an early Su-57E, the export version of Russia’s stealth fighter, flying near Oum El Bouaghi.
THE AIRCRAFTS
The J-10C, known in China as the “Vigorous Dragon,” is a single-engine, 4.5-generation fighter built by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. It uses a delta wing with canard foreplanes for high agility, a quadruplex fly-by-wire control system, and a diverterless supersonic inlet that trims its radar signature without moving parts. A domestic WS-10B turbofan pushes it to roughly Mach 1.8 to 2.0, with a combat range estimated between 1,240 km and 1,850 km depending on configuration. It carries an active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and the PL-15 long-range air-to-air missile, and spreads its weapons load up to 7,000 kg across 11 hardpoints. Pakistani J-10Cs were also involved in air-to-air engagements against the Indian Air Force in May 2025, the type’s first reported use in actual combat.
The KJ-500 is a third-generation airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft built on the Shaanxi Y-9 transport airframe. Rather than a rotating dome, it carries 3 fixed AESA radar panels in a dorsal radome that together give it 360-degree coverage with no gaps to refresh. China’s air force uses it to track more than 100 targets out to roughly 470 km, including low-flying aircraft and cruise missiles that older mechanically scanned radars can miss. 4 WJ-6C turboprop engines give it a range of 5,700 km and 8 to 12 hours of endurance; the upgraded KJ-500A adds a refueling probe for round-the-clock coverage. In practice, the aircraft acts as a relay hub, pulling in data from ground radars, ships, and drones and feeding it to fighters so they can fire on a target without using their own radar and giving away their position.
Russia’s defence industry is under real strain. Production lines are absorbing losses from the war in Ukraine, and Algeria’s own Su-57E order, reportedly signed in February 2025 for a dozen aircraft, has moved slowly; Russia built only 7 Su-57s between 2023 and 2024, and its total operational fleet sits at roughly 19 to 25 aircraft. Buying Chinese hardware lets Algiers hedge against further delays without abandoning a decades-old Russian relationship that still supplies the bulk of its air force.
Egypt has reportedly discussed and at points
signed for J-10C purchases of its own, though
Beijing has publicly denied some of those reports, and interest has also surfaced in Saudi Arabia.Adding Chinese aircraft to that lineup would not replace the Russian jets. It would sit alongside them, giving Algiers a second supplier so that a single source cannot dictate the pace of its modernization.
Algeria is finalizing an agreement to take its first Chinese combat aircraft, the Chengdu J-10C fighter jets, and the Shaanxi KJ-500 early warning aircraft, with deliveries reportedly starting in 2027. The report circulated in mid-June 2026, Algeria would become the first African state to fly...
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