- State affiliation · Niger
- Vigil category device · not official insignia
Identity provenance
State affiliation: Niger.
Vigil category device — drawn from this record’s own domain, echelon and role. Not an official insignia.
In brief
A small air arm whose principal base — Base 101 at Niamey's airport — hosts the Russian Africa Corps and the confederation's joint command, whose Turkish Bayraktar drones partly replaced the American surveillance-and-strike operation that withdrew in 2024, and whose base the mutineers of August 2026 attacked.
- Scope
- Structure, role, lineage and links. No subordinate records published.
- Subordination
- Subordination confirmed
- Sources
- 3 on the record
- Record state
- Partial
Broad area of activity
Nationwide from Base 101 at Niamey; a second air base at Agadez, built by the United States, passed to Niger in 2024
Notable history
Niger's air force is small — transports, helicopters, light aircraft and Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones delivered in 2022 — and its significance in this module is its bases. Base 101 at Niamey's international airport is where Russian trainers arrived in May 2024 while American personnel were still present, where the Africa Corps contingent has been since, and where the confederation's joint command element is reported; Air Base 201 at Agadez, built by the United States for about US$110 million, was handed over on 5 August 2024 and the drone operation that flew from it has not been publicly replaced. Islamic State attacked the Niamey airport in January 2026 and Moscow said its forces helped repel the attack; mutineers attacked Base 101 on 29–30 August 2026 before government forces retook it. The service is therefore the physical seat of Niger's external security relationships more than an air power in its own right.
Strengths
An armed-drone capability the insurgents cannot answer, and the infrastructure — two purpose-built bases — that partners want to use.
Limitations
A handful of aircraft for a country the size of Niger, the loss of the persistent surveillance that left with the Americans, and a main base that has been attacked twice in 2026. No numbers, sortie rates or dispositions are published.
Documented equipment
Related locations
Niamey: Base 101 at the international airport — the service's principal base, retaken from mutineers in August 2026.
Key events
The United States withdraws from Niger
After the authorities ordered American forces out in March 2024, withdrawal began on 19 May. US forces left Air Base 101 in Niamey on 7 July and Air Base 201 at Agadez on 5 August, completing the process by the mutually agreed date of 15 September. Air Base 201 had cost about US$110 million and was described by the US Air Force as the largest Air Force-led construction project in its history, built for drone operations and Nigerien force training. Russian trainers had arrived at Air Base 101 in May, while American personnel were still there.
Islamic State attacks Niamey airport, and Moscow says its forces helped repel it
Islamic State's Sahel Province, reported alongside its West Africa Province, launched a large-scale attack on Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey. Twenty attackers were killed, including a French national, and at least eleven were captured; four Nigerien soldiers were wounded. Russia's Foreign Ministry stated that the attack "was repelled through the joint efforts of the Russian Ministry of Defence's African Corps and the Nigerien armed forces". General Tiani subsequently visited the Russian base in person to thank the force. Sources differ by a day on the date.
Mutinous soldiers attack Niamey, and Moscow says its force acted on the base's request
Mutinous soldiers attacked the Diori Hamani International Airport, the presidential palace, the state broadcaster and Base 101 — the air force base that hosts both the Russian Africa Corps and the AES joint command. State media described hundreds of disaffected soldiers; reporting indicates the mutineers included troops from Niamey and from Ouallam, Téra and Dosso, localities where the army has sustained heavy casualties. Government forces retook Base 101, General Salifou Modi said on state television that the situation was under control, and dozens of soldiers were shown paraded afterwards. On 29 August Russia's ambassador, Viktor Voropayev, told TASS that the command of Base 101 had appealed to Russian personnel for assistance, and that Niger's chief of the general staff, the army chief of staff and the base commander later visited the Africa Corps compound to thank it; to Western agencies he said the mutineers were neutralised "particularly thanks to the intervention" of the force. Reporting attributes ground and aerial support, drones included, to Africa Corps personnel, and describes Russian personnel held by the mutineers early in the episode. Casualty and arrest figures have not been established; the government held a funeral for three presidential-guard members on 31 August. Algeria issued a statement of solidarity; a report that it also sent aircraft is single-source and not carried here.
Quick actions
System access
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Assessed as of2026-08Last reviewed2026-09-09
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