For the first time, an Algerian MiG-29M2 was photographed. The twin-seat fighter jet numbered FB-99, shot by the Russian planespotter Yuri Yudaev, was carrying out a test flight at the MiG Manufacturing Complex in Lukhovitsy near Moscow.
• أول صورة واضحة للمقاتلة الجزائرية من طراز MiG-29M2
— الدفاع العربي Defense Arab (@defensearab) February 2, 2021
• مرقمه بـ FB-99 وهي متجهة إلى الجزائر
• في شهر سبتمبر الماضي جرى توقيع عقد مع شركة روسابورون إكسبورت الروسية يتعلق باقتناء سرب من طائرات MiG-29M2 pic.twitter.com/OrOhOQCl7x
The aircraft is part of an order for 14 MiG-29M/M2 and 16 Sukhoi Su-30MKA combat aircraft signed at the MAKS Air Show in Moscow, in July 2019.
The first batch of three MiG-29M and one M2 was delivered, disassembled, at the Bousfer Air Base near Oran, Algeria in October 2020. The base houses the 193rd Fighter Squadron, currently operating on Soviet-era MiG-29S and MiG-29UB.
The sight of an Algerian MiG-29M2 at Mikoyan’s facility on February 1, 2021, indicates that the second batch is being prepared for delivery.
The Mikoyan MiG-29M is the latest iteration of the MiG-29 developed in the 1970s. It is a multirole fighter jet intended for interception, air superiority, as well as ground attack missions. Algeria is the second foreign customer of the Mikoyan MiG-29M after Egypt. Their configuration should be identical.
In late 2019, rumors emerged that Algeria might have been interested in acquiring a number of Su-57, thus becoming the very first export customer of the Russian fifth-generation fighter jet. That eventuality was later dismissed.