Procurement: Serbs Rebuild their MiG-29s

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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.