Moscow has sought to sell warships of russian production to Algeria for quite a while. First by offering Project 22160 Vasily Bykov–class patrol corvettes, then the Project 22380 missile corvettes, equipped with Kh-35 anti-ship missiles.
However, the plan started to crumble as in 2021, Algeria instead chose to buy Type 056 corvettes from China, sometimes called copy-paste ships for their impressive potential for mass production with over 70 units built by now. What was initially a one-ship order, fulfilled in March 2023, has now escalated to a potential deal for six Type 056s, including one produced right in Algerian shipyards, Infodefensa reports.
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The Algerian Ministry of Defense announced plans to start building Type 056 locally, for that purpose, an expansion of shipbuilding facilities in Annaba has been initiated in cooperation with Italy. After the works are complete, the shipyard on the east coast of Algeria should be capable of producing corvette-class warships with hull length up to 50 meters.
The large-scale deal for six naval ships including a production license especially stings the Kremlin which has viewed Algeria as a loyal customer. For one, because about 85% of all equipment and weapons in the Algerian army are russian-made.
Furthermore, in the naval domain particularly, Algeria had bought two Project 877 diesel-electric submarines and four Project 636.6 submarines with silos equipped to carry Kalibr cruise missiles. Unconfirmed reports suggest that these cruise missiles were sold to the Algerians as well as a part of the set.
That is why the fact that russia was never able to sell its corvettes to Algeria, and the deal was snatched by Chinese shipbuilders instead, caused an outrage in russian media.

Let's outline the specifications of the Chinese Type 056 corvette:
- water displacement: 1300 tons;
- hull dimensions: 89 meters in length and 11.6 meters in width;
- max. speed, operational range: 28 knots, 3,500 nautical miles at 15 knots;
- crew: 60 people;
- armament: one 76-mm H/PJ-26 gun, two 30-mm H/PJ-17 guns, four YJ-83 anti-ship missiles, one launcher with eight FL3000N anti-aircraft missiles in stock, two triple-tubed launchers for 324mm torpedoes.
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