US buys 81 ex-Kazakh AF jets

[FredL]

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-buys ... 20reported.

I wonder if such aircraft components may really be usefull as spare parts in Ukraine, where such derelicts are already to be found in numbers.
Isn't that move also (more) motivated by the US will to avoid those aircraft spare parts being re-used in Iran, which operates some of those jets types ?
I remember that around 20 years ago, the US bought about 20 Mig-29s from Moldova to prevent them from being sold to Iran.

[michel N]

It’s only vague rumors, denied by Kazakhstan. So it’s far from confirmed the USA bought them.
Second, if the average price was 20.000 dollars each, I would guess there’s not much that can be used from these planes.

[Starfighter_F-104G]

Kazakhstan denies sale of discontinued military aircraft to Ukraine

Astana, Apr 28, 2024

Kazakhstan's state-owned company Kazspecexport today denied having sold discontinued military aircraft to Ukraine for spare parts.

According to the Kazakh company, which is engaged in the export and import of weapons, leasing of military facilities and destruction of war material, told the Kazakhstan Pravda newspaper on Sunday the information circulating on the Internet does not correspond to reality.

No foreign entity, according to Kazspecexport, had access to the purchase of aircraft equipment subject to destruction; all retired aircraft, their components and equipment will undergo scrapping that excludes the possibility of restoring their original state and will leave only in the form of scrap metal.

[orange]

I remember that around 20 years ago, the US bought about 20 Mig-29s from Moldova to prevent them from being sold to Iran.

That was the official reason.

But not all Moldovan MiG-29s were bought which is strange if you want to prevent any from falling in Iran’s hands… Around the same time many other countries offered MiG-29s for sale but non of these were bought by either Iran or the US?
A lot of these MiG-29s disappeared after arrival in the US. Some even appeared in the skies over Area 51.
They were bought for a reason but I don’t think Iran had anything to do with it.