- The US has purchased 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Kazakhstan, the Kyiv Post reports.
- Kazakhstan, a historic ally of Russia, is engaging more with Western nations.
- The planes could be used for spare parts or deployed as decoys in conflict regions, the Post said.
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.
They did that sort of thing in WWII all the time. Fake airplanes, inflatable tanks, all kinds of stuff. My grandfather worked for De Havilland in WWII as an aircraft inspector and the roof of the factory had fake bomb damage painted on it.