Director of the russian Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) Dmitri Shugaev while attending the "russia-Africa" forum said the executory contract with Nigeria on the production and transfer of attack helicopters had been "partially fulfilled". Verbatim:
"The contract on supply of 12 Mi-35 helicopters to Nigeria is partially fulfilled. The partners are interested in its completion, we keep working in this direction."
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At first glance, it looks like the russian military industry has achieved some progress in another agreement with an African state, which gives a boost to the russian war machine and inevitably leads to more weapons coming at the frontlines of the ongoing war in Ukraine. But in fact, the situation is the direct opposite.
It seems that the representatives of the russian weapon industry have adopted a new euphemism "partial fulfilment," which actually means "not ready but we don't want to face fines" either.
Now, if we take a look at the public data we'll see that the first and so far the only delivery of six Mi-35s from the russian federation to Nigeria within this contract took place in October 2019, that is, almost 4 years ago. And it is unlikely that any additional rotorcraft were delivered afterward because the latest The Military Balance 2023 edition says the Nigerian Air Force still has only ten Mi-35s at its disposal, increased from four helicopters of this type Nigeria already had in 2018 before signing the deal.
Interestingly, at the beginning of February 2022, russian state media announced Nigeria's "large-scale" plans to upgrade its Mi-24 and Mi-35 fleet to the Mi-35P Phoenix level. However, they did not specify how many such helicopters the Nigerians had at their disposal at that time.
Earlier, Defense Express highlighted how "well" russian arms exports to its African satellites are proceeding: from supplies of Mi-28s for Uganda, they degraded to giving away storage aircraft to African countries, namely the L-39 training and combat aircraft to Mali and the Central African Republic.
Read more: Sudan Intends to Buy russian Aircraft, Considers Barter Because of Limited Budget
