Trade war between Russia and the United States over the sale of the Sukhoi-57 and the F-35

The interest shown by some countries in modernising their air forces clashes with the trade war in the arms industry between Russia and the United States and their desire to prevent industrial espionage with regard to their fifth-generation stealth fighter planes, the Sukhoi-57 and the F-35. 

One of the most high-profile cases has been that of Algeria. Although the acquisition of 14 Su-57 fighter jets by the Algerian Air Force has not been confirmed, observers say that Alger wants to be cautious about exclusively linking itself to Russian technology to avoid what happened to Turkey, which, after purchasing Russian S-400 missiles, was refused permission by the United States to sell them F-35 units.

At a time when the geopolitical competition between Russia and the United States is reminiscent of that experienced during the Cold War, the Sukhoi-57 and F-35 fighters faced each other for the first time at the Aero India 2025 Air Show, as the world's most advanced fifth-generation stealth fighters. 

Washington is not keen for Russia's allies, such as Algeria, to obtain much information about the radar evasion system that the advanced F-35 fighter has, especially considering that Algeria is acquiring the most advanced Russian equipment. And the Algerians, for their part, want to improve defence cooperation with the United States which, in turn, could push Russia to break the agreement to supply the Sukhoi-57, even though this is a big deal for Moscow. 

Despite the fact that the deputy minister of National Defence and head of the Army General Staff, Said Chengriha, has confirmed the purchase of the Su-57s on state television, the agreement could fall apart, given that US collaboration is always on the horizon. 

Chengriha stated that Algeria had signed an exclusive agreement with Russia, under which it will receive 14 S-57s over the next two years, two of them during the current year. The agreement also includes a training course for Algerian pilots in Russia, which is already underway. 

Although Algeria is a country with a tendency to co-operate with Russia, as demonstrated by this operation to modernise its air arsenal, historically it has been open to co-operating with almost any country. This has led to it being considered by countries such as China, India, Russia and the United States as a ‘strategic partner’. 

In an attempt to avoid handing over all its military cooperation to Russia, the Algerian ambassador to the United States, Sabri Boukadoum, said that his country's priorities in 2025 include ‘improving cooperation with the US Department of Defense and increasing US investment in Algeria, and that multiple discussions have been held with the new administration in Washington on current and future cooperation’. 

Boukadoum emphasised Algeria's intention to establish military partnerships to expand and diversify its army and its weapons capabilities, within a framework of cooperation that avoids the option of other alternatives.

These words conceal the message that, if it collaborates with Russia, the possibilities of agreements for the F-35s would be cancelled, in the same way that it happened to Turkey when it saw how the United States vetoed the sale of the F-35s. Now, Algeria does not want to suffer the same fate. ​