In recent years, Russia has been increasingly actively declaring its political, military and economic interests not only in Syria, but also in the countries of the African continent, primarily in Egypt and Libya. The attention of the domestic and foreign press, in this regard, is riveted to Russian-Egyptian relations, to the ties of the Russian military department with the Libyan field marshal Haftar. Meanwhile, as it is forgotten much more significant partner of Russia in North Africa - Algeria.
Unlike Egypt or Tunisia, Russian tourists hardly visit Algeria. But in the structure of Russia's military-industrial exports, this country occupies one of the most important places. Relations with Algeria were established more than half a century ago, back in Soviet times. Then the Soviet Union actively supported the struggle of the Algerian people for independence, and then, when Algeria received the long-awaited freedom from France, began to help the young state in the construction of infrastructure facilities, in the training of qualified personnel and, of course, in the military sphere. At the same time, unlike many African countries, trade relations with Algeria were not interrupted after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
During the first post-Soviet quarter of a century, from 1991 to 2016, Algeria purchased weapons from the Russian Federation for a total of $ 26 billion. That is, Algeria ranks third in the world after India and China in terms of imports of Russian weapons. This fact alone makes Algeria one of the most important strategic partners of our country.
In 2006, Russia supplied Algeria with military equipment and weapons worth $ 7.5 billion. These were 28 Su-30MKA fighters, 16 Yak-130 combat training aircraft, three S-300PMU-2 anti-aircraft missile systems, 38 Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and cannon systems, 185 T-90S tanks, 216 anti-tank launchers complexes "Kornet-E", eight systems of high-precision weapons "Krasnopol" and two submarines of project 636M.
In 2011, Algeria bought 120 T-90S tanks from Russia, then 16 16 Su-30MKA fighters, in 2013 a contract was signed for the supply of 42 Mi-28N attack helicopters and 6 Mi-26T2 transport helicopters, and in 2014 “Rosoboronexport”signed an agreement with Algeria on licensed production of about 200 T-90 tanks at Algerian enterprises. This contract, by the way, became the world's largest export contract for battle tanks.
In addition, in November 2018, the Algerian side turned to Russia with a proposal to create a joint venture in Algeria in the production, repair and disposal of ammunition, and a year earlier an agreement was signed to provide the Algerian armed forces with the capabilities of the GLONASS system. Before Algeria, by the way, such an agreement was concluded only with India.
What is the Algerian army today and why is cooperation with this country so important for Russia? To begin with, Algeria is one of the last bastions of secular left-wing nationalism in the Arab world. Despite the fact that the seemingly unshakable regimes of Ben Ali, Gaddafi and Mubarak collapsed in three neighboring countries - Tunisia, Libya and Egypt - in 2011 during the Arab Spring, Algeria managed to maintain political stability.
The country's president, Abdel Aziz Bouteflika, has been holding this position for nineteen years, last year he celebrated his eightieth birthday. Bouteflika is a veteran of the struggle for the independence of Algeria, one of the associates of the legendary Ahmed Ben Bella. In 1963-1979 he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria (at the time of his appointment to the post of Bouteflika, he was a 26-year-old young man).
Abdel Aziz Bouteflika, despite his age, also holds the post of Minister of National Defense of Algeria, is the supreme commander of the armed forces and the national gendarmerie. At one time, it was the Algerian armed forces that were able to deliver crushing blows to radical fundamentalists, restoring order in the country. As in other secular Arab regimes, in Algeria, the armed forces play a colossal role in the political life of the country, in fact, merged with the system of government. This is due, among other things, to the fact that Algeria achieved independence as a result of a long and bloody armed struggle against France. Former rebel commanders became officers of the national army, maintaining mass authority and political influence. For almost sixty years of the country's political independence, the military has repeatedly taken the helm of the Algerian government. President Bouteflika himself has an army past, who once commanded units of the National Liberation Army in southern Algeria and was an officer of the ANO General Staff.
At the same time, Islamist sentiments are very strong in Algeria, especially among low-income groups of the population. The army in this country, as in Egypt, is the main guarantor of secularism and it is for this reason that the military is trying to control the activities of the government. It turns out that it is not the military who serve the government, but rather the government fulfills the will of the army elite.
The main enemy of the Algerian armed forces for at least three decades has been radical fundamentalist groups. In the 1990s, the army waged a bloody civil war with them, but even now it is too early to talk about a final victory over the radicals.
If we talk about external threats, the relations with Tunisia and Libya, although they were far from ideal, still did not turn into a confrontation plane. The troubled neighborhood with Morocco is another matter. If Algeria was guided by the Soviet Union and the socialist camp, then Morocco has always been a reliable ally of the West. But the reason for the contradictions between Algeria and Morocco lies not in ideological issues, but in territorial disputes, since the border between the two countries, passing through the desert regions of the Sahara, has always been very conditional. When Algeria declared independence, the border issue immediately became the subject of disputes between the countries.
Since 1975, Algeria has supported the Polisario, the Western Sahara Liberation Front. Polisario militants have always been based on Algerian territory, from where they raided Moroccan troops, while Polisario received weapons and ammunition from Algeria, fighters and commanders of the Western Sahara front were trained in Algeria.
It was on the border with Morocco that significant forces of the Algerian army were always concentrated. The buildup of armaments aims, first of all, also to demonstrate force to the neighboring state. Another important area of concentration of the Algerian army is the border of Algeria with Mali. As you know, Mali, one of the poorest countries in Africa, has long been troubled. In the north of the country, Tuareg rebels are active in support of the creation of Azavad, a Tuareg autonomy in the Sahara. Since Tuaregs also roam in Algeria, on the Ahaggar plateau, Tuareg separatism in Mali is an alarming signal for the Algerian government. On the other hand, in addition to the Tuaregs, local groups of religious radicals are also active in Mali, collaborating with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (banned in the Russian Federation).
The Algerian Armed Forces have an extensive structure. Its basis is the National People's Army of Algeria, numbering 220 thousand people and including four types of armed forces - the ground forces, the air force, the air defense forces and the naval forces. The country's territory is divided into six military districts: 1st district - Blida, 2nd - Oran, 3rd Beshara, 4th - Ouargla, 5th - Constantine, 6th - Tamanrasset. The ground forces include 2 mechanized and 2 tank divisions, 12 separate brigades (6 motorized infantry, 1 tank, 4 mechanized and 1 airborne), 5 anti-aircraft missile and 1 anti-aircraft artillery brigades, 25 separate infantry battalions, 1 artillery, 2 anti-tank and 1 jet divisions.
The ground forces have a lot of weapons - about 1200 tanks, 500 artillery pieces, 330 mortars, 800 anti-aircraft guns and 500 anti-tank artillery guns, 880 armored vehicles. The country's air force includes 1 bomber, 2 fighter bombers, 7 fighter and 2 reconnaissance squadrons, is armed with 185 aircraft, including 19 Su-24 bombers, 40 MiG-23bn fighter-bombers, 122 fighters. The military transport aviation includes 2 squadrons and 50 aircraft. In addition, there are 3 combat and 1 training squadrons of combat training aviation. Helicopter aviation has 50 combat, 55 transport and 20 training helicopters, 2 more squadrons and 15 patrol aircraft are included in the Navy. The air defense troops number 40 thousand people and consist of 3 anti-aircraft missile and 1 anti-aircraft artillery brigades. The Algerian navy (20,000 servicemen) is armed with 14 warships, 42 combat boats, 4 coastal artillery batteries and 1 marine battalion.
The National People's Army is manned by recruiting men for military service, officers are trained at the combined-arms military academy in Shershel, as well as at the armored, artillery, airborne, engineering, communications, logistical, military-administrative and national service schools. If they teach at the academy for three years, then at the schools - two years. The Air Force has its own schools - aviation and aviation technical with three years of training, the Navy, Air Defense (four years) and the National Gendarmerie (two years).
The National Gendarmerie is part of the armed forces and reports to the Minister of National Defense. It employs 65 thousand people and performs tasks of protecting the state border, public order and state institutions. Gendarme units are equipped with armored vehicles, armored personnel carriers and helicopters. In each Algerian wilaya (region) a gendarme office and one combatant battalion of the gendarmerie from two to three companies are deployed. From 2 to 4 gendarme battalions are deployed in large cities.
Another formation is the Republican Guard, numbering 5 thousand servicemen. Guardsmen guard the country's top leadership, perform the functions of a guard of honor and an escort. The guards are also armed with armored vehicles.
In addition to the armed forces, there are a number of other paramilitaries in Algeria. First, it is the Interior Ministry's Security Corps, subordinate to the Algerian Interior Ministry and numbering over 20,000 employees. This is a motorized police force that carries out policing functions.
Secondly, there are the Civil Defense Troops, also numbering 20 thousand people. Thirdly, there are communal guards and militia numbering up to 100 thousand people. If we talk about the mobilization reserve, then it numbers more than 5 million people, which makes Algeria a rather serious adversary, at least in comparison with neighboring countries.
Algeria currently has the largest military budget in Africa, and according to independent rankings, its armed forces are among the 25 most numerous and well-equipped armies in the world. Considering the army as their most important support, the Algerian authorities spare no money for its maintenance.
The top layer of the Algerian military elite is still represented by veterans of the war of independence. Thus, the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Algerian Armed Forces is occupied by 78-year-old Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah (born 1940). Algeria's intelligence and security department is headed by another veteran, 79-year-old General Mohammed Medien (born 1939), who joined the Algerian army even before independence, and then trained at the KGB school in the Soviet Union. The National Gendarmerie is headed by the 74-year-old Major General Menad Nuba (born 1944).
The old age of the top leaders of the army and special services of Algeria testifies to the fact that the ruling elite, represented by veterans of the National Liberation Front, are afraid to let go of the power in the country from their hands. But the aging of the leadership is a very serious problem for many of these regimes. At one time, the Soviet Union was also ruined by the aging of the leadership and the absence of an appropriate change.
Since Algeria is an important military and trade partner of Russia, and also, by tradition, maintains good political relations with our country, the change of political power in this North African state is not beneficial to us now. But the whole question is whether the current Algerian government will be able to find suitable successors capable of continuing the secular and moderately nationalist course, without hesitation towards the West or Islamic radicalism.
