Friday 16 December 2016

Russia has offered second-hand MiG-29s to Serbia

16-12-2016

The primer minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has declared that the Fulcrums could arrive in March 2017. They will have 2 years of service left before an overhaul is needed. Then the entire fleet (6 ex-Russians + current 4) will be repaired and kept in service for another 14 years. The government is also looking at acquiring another 13 Airbus helicopters (1).

21-11-2016

The Russian government has offered Serbia second hand 6 MiG-29s free of charge. Serbia would have to pay for the upgrade/modernization, which is about 50 million $. If the deal goes through it would be an important acquisition for the Serbian Armed Forces, as only 3 MiG-29s and 1 MiG-21bis are comabt ready

This type of scheme has been followed by some countries after the Cold War. The client gets excess material free of charge but has to pay for refurbishment/modernization and spares. Russia should have a number of MiG-29 9.12/9.13 available, as many have been replaced by advanced derivates of Flanker.

MiG-29s and other fighters stored at Kubinka (fotografersha.livejournal.com)

The Russian government has also offered Buk SAM systems, but Serbia has rejected them as it cannot afford them (60 million $).

Back in 2013 the Russianmedia reported a contract for 6 MiG-35, but it was never fulfilled as IMF put pressure on the Serbian government to cancel the deal.

References:

- http://www.opex360.com/2016/11/19/la-russie-va-livrer-6-avions-mig-29-la-serbie/
- http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2265939.html
https://ria.ru/defense_safety/20161215/1483717706.html (1)

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