Turkish company clarifies Chad's reported re-export of SAM system to Sudan

An FB-10A short-range air-defence system displayed at the Airshow China held in Zhuhai in November 2024. (Janes/Sam Wise)

A Turkish defence company has indicated that a report claiming Chad transferred a recently purchased Chinese air-defence system to Sudan misinterpreted a leaked request for information (RFI) that made no progress.

The France-based opposition news website Tchad One published a story on 26 September claiming it had seen confidential documents that confirmed Chad acquired an FB-10A air-defence system in February that “disappeared from the armed forces' inventory and ended up in Sudan”. It cited sources in Chad's presidential office as saying the acquisition was financed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It said the deployment of an FB-10A to Sudan was confirmed by a confidential United Nations (UN) report it had seen and used a photograph of the Chinese-made FB-10A mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system to illustrate the story.

Promoted on the international market by Alit, the FB-10A is typically shown mounted on a 6×6 Mengshi tactical vehicle carrying eight SAMs that are said to have a range of 1–18 km and an altitude of 10–8,000 m (26,000 ft). A fire unit can operate independently or as part of a battery supported by a target acquisition radar.

To support its story, Tchad One released a document written in French that appeared to be a letter in which the Chadian Air Force expressed its intent to buy the FB-10A and asked for more details about it, including pricing. This RFI was dated 8 February, making it highly unlikely that the deal was finalised and the system delivered before the end of that month, as claimed by Tchad One.