US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
Source: Business Insider
Apr 28, 2024, 7:35 PM EDT
The US has acquired 81 obsolete Soviet-era combat aircraft from Kazakhstan, the Kyiv Post reported. Kazakhstan, which is upgrading its air fleet, auctioned off 117 Soviet-era fighter and bomber aircraft, including MiG-31 interceptors, MiG-27 fighter bombers, MiG-29 fighters, and Su-24 bombers from the 1970s and 1980s.
The declared sale value was one billion Kazakhstani tenge, said the Post, or $2.26 million, equalling an average value for each plane of $19,300. The US purchased 81 of the aged, unusable warplanes, said the Ukrainian Telegram channel Insider UA, per the Post.
The motive behind the US purchase remains undisclosed, said the Post, but it raised the possibility of their use in Ukraine, where similar aircraft are in service. The sale was made through offshore companies, said Reporter, a Russian English language news site.
Given Ukraine's continued reliance on Soviet-era weapons, the aircraft could either serve as a source of spare parts or be strategically deployed as decoys at airfields, said the Post.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/us-buys-81-soviet-fighter-jets-from-russian-ally-20k-2024-4
= new reply since forum marked as read
We bought roughly 70% 
