Algeria is to spend more than €2.5 billion on new naval equipment to help combat an increasing menace from smuggling, illegal immigration and terrorism along the country’s 1,000km coastline. The money will be spent on two MEKO A200 frigates, six Super Lynx helicopters and weapons systems. The 3,500-tonne warships will be equipped with RBS15 Mk.III anti-ship missiles and Umkhonto-IR surface-to-air missiles. The helicopters will be armed with Mokopa air-to-surface missiles.The ships are to be acquired from ThyssenKrupp Marine SystemsKrupp. The German contractor previously supplied four vessels for the South African Navy. An unusual feature is the propulsion system which has diesel engines driving water jets instead of conventional propellers.
In other measures to modernise its fleet, the navy has also placed further contracts with the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St Petersburg for the overhaul of a second pair of warships. The Russian shipyard will refit a Koni II class frigate and a Nanuchka II class corvette, which have been in service since the 1980s.
