Do you need an MiG-29 fleet? You can get it on sale in Hungary
The Hungarian National Asset Management has once again failed to find a buyer for the Hungarian air force’s MiG-29 fleet, despite offering engines, other accessories and even missiles.
444 reports based on Világgazdaság that the Hungarian National Asset Management has launched an electronic auction in order to sell the Hungarian air force’s MiG-29 fleet, but there was not even one bidder.
The tender for selling the MiG-29 fleet has proved unsuccessful, as absolutely no one showed interest in buying the fleet package whole with 20 engines and 293 other accessories, including missiles. The upset price was 2.8 billion forints (EUR 8.7 million). The Hungarian state bought the 28 aircraft in 1993 for 800 million dollars, covered by the Russian state debt.
Out of the 28 aircraft, only four were operational in 2010, when after 17 years of service, the MiG-29s were pulled out.
There are only three which have spent over 1000 hours in the air over the course of these 17 years, but there was one which did not even fly 200 hours – this was used for spare parts.
However, this was not the first time the Hungarian state has made an attempt at selling these aircraft. Previously (and probably this time too), the sale did not happen, because according to a 2002 two-way agreement between the Russian and the Hungarian governments, Hungary (as a NATO member) can only sell the crafts with the approval of the manufacturer. Since the crafts were manufactured by the Russian government, the approval of the Russian Federation is needed, which shortens the list of potential buyers.
In the past 8-10 years, the jet fighters were kept outside, and because of this, they can only be called aircraft once again if they underwent a complete factory renovation.
featured image: Wikimedia Commons – U.S. Air Force
Source: 444.hu