Ethiopia Gets 12 Su-35 Jets, Eyes S-400 Amid Eritrea Tensions
The disclosure comes as friction with neighboring Eritrea and a fresh flare-up of fighting in the northern Tigray region stoke fears of a broader conflict across the Horn of Africa.
Announcing the news on US social media platform X, Abiy wrote: “Ethiopia’s newly deployed military jets will remain more ready than ever to defend the airspace!”
The aircraft arrived under an earlier agreement with Moscow, he said, while the S-400 systems are due to follow at a later date.
Abiy also thanked the Russian leader for speeding up the handover. “I would like to express my gratitude to my friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his dedication in ensuring we received these warplanes a year ahead of our agreed schedule,” said Abiy.
He called the purchases a major step toward bolstering Ethiopia’s military capabilities and defending its sovereignty.
The Su-35 is a Russian multirole combat aircraft built for air superiority and ground-attack missions. The S-400 is a long-range surface-to-air missile system capable of engaging aircraft and other airborne threats.
Ethiopia and Eritrea, once allies, have drifted into open tension. Addis Ababa’s demand for Red Sea access and disputes over security in northern Ethiopia have driven relations downward.
Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea won independence in 1993, and Abiy has repeatedly cast maritime access as vital to the country’s economic and security interests.
Renewed clashes in Tigray, where Ethiopian federal forces and rival Tigrayan factions are locked in hostilities, have deepened worries about instability along the Ethiopian-Eritrean border.
The two nations fought a border war from 1998 to 2000 and restored diplomatic ties in 2018. Eritrean troops later fought alongside Ethiopian government forces during the 2020-2022 Tigray conflict, but relations have since soured.
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