(Image: Yuriy Lapitskiy, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

Last year it was reported that four Russian fighter jets had been sold illegally for just £3 each.  Today the Telegraph newspaper reported that former State Federal Reserve Agency employee Andrei Silyakov had been jailed for 11 years over the scandal, which cost the state around $55 million and highlighted a culture of corruption in Russia’s military.

(Image: U.S. Federal Government, public domain)

The four MiG-31 Foxhound supersonic fighter aircraft were sold for just 153 roubles (£3.30, or $5.31) each from state-owned Sokol aviation plant in Nizhny Novgorod, 250 miles east of Moscow.  According to a statement, the fighter jets were appraised as scrap metal and sold to a shell company with no license to trade arms.

(Image: Eldan Goldenberg (website), NC-SA-2.0)

Despite being stripped of engines and weapons, the powerful twin-seat MiG-31s were actually worth $4 million a piece.  Urban Ghosts has extensively documented abandoned Russian aircraft, part of a huge arms stockpile the country inherited after the fall of the Soviet Union.  And at a total cost of £13.20 ($21.25) for a fleet of MiG-31 Foxhounds, I’d say that’s a considerable bang for your buck.

Related Articles:
The MiG-23 Graveyard, Balad
Forgotten Swedish Fighter Fleet
Blow The Up, Comrade: Russia’s Inflatable Military

Partner Sites