January1, 2007:
Serbia is spending $30 million to have a Russian firm refurbish combat
aircraft, including five MiG-29s. Lack of maintenance, and use, has made the
Mig's unflyable since 2004. Yugoslavia bought 14 MiG-29s from the Soviet Union
in 1987, for about $20 million each. The aircraft were manufactured in 1983-4,
and used for a few years by the Soviets. Serbia used them during
the 1990s in the various Balkan civil wars. In 1999, during the war with NATO,
nine MiG-29s were destroyed in the air or on the ground. Yugoslavia also has a
large force of fighter-bombers, many of them made in Yugoslavia, as well as
Russian designed helicopters and transports.