Burkina Faso unveils air-defence system

A still taken from the video released by Burkina Faso's presidency shows a previously unseen radar. (Présidence du Faso)

A previously unseen air-defence system was briefly seen being tested in a video released by Burkina Faso's presidency on 1 September to highlight recent military acquisitions.

The video included shots of a mobile air-surveillance radar with its antenna rotating, three soldiers looking at screens inside a control shelter, and then a launcher firing a missile into the air from one of two canisters.

The canisters appeared to be the right size for Sky Dragon 30, which is the name of both a surface-to-air missile promoted by Norinco and the system that uses it, although the launcher was slightly different from the one unveiled by the Chinese company at Airshow China in 2022. The Sky Dragon 30 missile displayed with the launcher at the show appeared to consist of the front end of the PL-10E air-to-air missile fitted to a larger rocket motor.

A brochure released during the show said the Sky Dragon 30 has a maximum range of 30 km and a maximum altitude of 18 km. The missile has an infrared seeker and the system can engage 12 targets simultaneously.

In the Burkinabe video, Minister of War and Patriotic Defence General Célestin Simporé said the acquisitions included surface-to-air artillery, but did not name any systems.

All the other equipment shown in the video has already been seen in Burkina Faso, most of it in a series of events held since January 2024 in which President Captain Ibrahim Traoré officially handed it over to the National Armed Forces (FAN). This has included large numbers of Norinco armoured vehicles and artillery systems.