World Bulletin/News Desk

Algeria would produce its first supersonic drone in 2016 in cooperation with South Africa, a government official said Sunday.

"We will produce the first African supersonic drone in 2016 as part of scientific cooperation with South Africa," Hafeez Arwagh, the head of the Department for Scientific Research and Technological Development at the Algerian Higher Education Ministry, was quoted by the official Algerian news agency as saying.

He added on the sidelines of an international fair on drones in the northwestern Algerian city of Oran that joint teams from Algeria and South Africa would start working on the new drone on January 1, 2015.

Arwagh expected the new drone to be ready after 18 months from the start of work by the joint teams from the two countries.