Russian fighters 'not safe to fly'

Russia today grounded dozens of its fighter jets as unsafe to fly.

A check of the fleet began after a MiG-29 crashed in southern Siberia in December when its tail broke off during a training flight. The pilot was killed. Another plane had crashed in the same area in October.

An air force spokesman said that about 90 MiG-29s had been found unsafe to fly and would need repairs.

Around 100 other MiG-29s have been cleared for flight, but others remain to be checked.

The twin-engined MiG-29, code-named Fulcrum by Nato, has been in service with the Soviet and then Russian air force since the 1980s. The two other types of fighters in the Russian inventory, the Su-27 and the MiG-31, also date from the 1980s.

The military may find it hard to afford costly repairs of the planes now, when slumping oil prices have drained the government coffers. During eight years of Russia’s oil-driven economic boom, the military upgraded only a few dozen fighter jets.

Grounding of the MiG fleet has dealt a blow to the Kremlin’s effort to revive the nation’s military and project its power worldwide. It may also jeopardise Russia’s efforts to increase arms sales.

In a humiliating blow to Russia, Algeria last year returned 15 MiG-29s, saying the quality was poor.

Moscow has dismissed the claim, and the Russian military said it would commission the planes this year.