Tunisia is accelerating its military modernization with the United States, which has approved and delivered anti-tank missiles, naval vessels, aircraft, and now a $95 million border surveillance overhaul, a concentration of security assistance that makes Tunis one of Washington’s most active partners in North Africa.
On April 27, 2026, the U.S. State Department cleared a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Tunisia for equipment supporting Project Phase III of the Tunisian Border Security. The total estimated cost is $95 million, with L3Harris Technologies of Melbourne, Florida, handling communications and surveillance software, and Toyota’s U.S. commercial vehicle operation in Plano, Texas, handling the fleet vehicle requirements.
The package is broad, including thermal cameras, surveillance radars, microwave relay links, perimeter cameras, Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless data systems, chemical and explosive detectors, personal radiation pagers, command-and-control hardware and software, generators, solar power units, and a Common Operating Picture (COP) platform that ties the individual sensor sites together. Training, installation, integration, and long-term sustainment support are included, giving Tunisian forces the tools to run independently after delivery.
Phase II of the Tunisia Border Security Project concluded in March 2022 after a ceremony at Remada Barracks attended by U.S. and German ambassadors and Tunisia’s defence minister. That earlier work installed a remotely monitored integrated sensor line along Tunisia’s southern and southeastern borders. Phase III extends and deepens that architecture.
ANTI-TANK MISSILES AND THE FIRE-AND-FORGET UPGRADE
The Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of a possible $107.7 million Foreign Military Sale in December 2024, covering 184 Javelin FGM-148F missiles, 4 designated for testing, and 30 Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units. The package also includes simulation rounds, operator manuals, indoor and outdoor trainers, and maintenance training. The FGM-148 Javelin, developed through a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon), is a man-portable, shoulder-fired weapon capable of engaging tanks, fortified positions, and low-flying rotary aircraft. Its fire-and-forget guidance, the missile locks onto a target’s infrared signature before launch and homes autonomously, allowing the operator to seek cover immediately. The FGM-148F variant, the most current production model, improves guidance electronics and adds a multipurpose warhead effective against both armoured vehicles and structures.
Tunisia’s existing anti-tank inventory relies on the BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, optically tracked, Wire-guided) missile, mounted on Humvees and M901 Improved TOW Vehicles alongside French-German MILAN (Missile d’Infanterie Léger AntiChar) systems. Both require the operator to maintain line-of-sight throughout the missile’s flight, a sustained exposure that increases risk in fluid close-combat situations. Integration is expected to involve special operations forces and mechanized brigades, boosting their ability to counter armoured vehicles used by terrorist groups or state-adjacent militias crossing the Libyan border.
The Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) noted that the sale “will improve Tunisia’s long-term defence capacity to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that Tunisia “will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces”. With deliveries anticipated in the near term, Tunisia becomes North Africa’s first Javelin operator, a status that also raises interoperability with NATO partners who field the same system.
NAVAL AND AIR DEFENCE PROCUREMENTS
In April 2025, the Tunisian Navy commissioned two Island-class patrol boats at the naval base in La Goulette, near Tunis. The vessels, 34-metre (110-foot) cutters originally operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and refurbished before transfer. Vice Admiral J.T. Anderson, Commander of U.S. Sixth Fleet, attended the ceremony, which coincided with a port visit by the USS Mount Whitney, the Sixth Fleet’s flagship.
On the air defence side, U.S. forces deployed the Avenger short-range air defence system at the Ben Ghilouf Training Center during African Lion 2025 (AL25) in April, 2025. The first time the Avenger has operated in Africa and within the African Lion exercise framework. Tunisia currently operates the American-made M48 Chaparral short-range SAM air defence systems, and armed unmanned aerial vehicles are an increasingly active threat vector across the Sahel and North Africa.
A PARTNERSHIP WITH WEIGHT BEHIND IT
The cumulative scale of U.S. security assistance to Tunisia is considerable. Since 2011, Washington has invested over $1 billion in security cooperation with Tunis, according to the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia. Equipment previously transferred includes UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, C-130 transport aircraft, and 4 Textron C-208EX surveillance aircraft delivered in September 2024 for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
The country holds major non-NATO ally (MNNA) status, a designation that streamlines arms transfers and prioritizes access to U.S. military training. Tunisia is building layered defences across land, sea, and air simultaneously. This milestone will mark North Africa’s first fielding of the system and a new chapter in Tunisia’s ground combat capability.