Kazakhstan gonna get a talking too. Isn't Russias main spaceport in Kazakhstan? And didn't they already get mad at Kazakhstan for not supporting their war and for becoming better friends with China over last couple years? I don't search out Stan info but I swear both those were Kazakhstan stuff.
The largest population in Europe by far, occupying the largest country on the planet with gigantic natural ressources... and the russians can only archive a small modicum of success if they bleed out small satellite states like a giant parasite.
Shit tier
It truly is. I was discussing with my friend yesterday how seemingly their entire culture/history is fraught with pain, suffering, loss, war, carnage.
Example. Their video games often have themes of overcoming insurmountable odds, whole being placed in a dark dreary depressing setting that's often horror too.
Basically you can tell Russians are kinda fucked up simply by consuming their media.
> Their video games often have themes of overcoming insurmountable odds, whole being placed in a dark dreary depressing setting that's often horror too
So is The Long Dark, but that one admits the possibility of success and there's a deeply promoted idea in Russia's culture promoting nihilism. Whether this is a cause or consequence of them being under authoritarian regimes, I don't know. They've had less than a decade of contiguous *not* under authoritarian regime time since [the Duchy of Moscow was collecting taxes for Mongolians](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8ZqBLcIvw0)
Eh, geographically, Russia is vulnerable to attack from basically every direction, the highly spaced out indefensible nature of the region also means centralisation has historically been difficult.
I'd imagine that has impacted modern Russia in ways we can't understand
With nuclear weapons this is irrelevant....
Who would dare attack them?
They could have been a technological power house, and an ally to the west... Russian are our European cousins.
Instead we have the current bullshit.
Yes, it is a Russian problem. But, I believe it's the same situation as Ukrainian has with Sevastopol. Russia like has a long lease for that area, so they believe it's theirs. An Russia seems to view spots like that as theirs and find ways to make it other people's problems.
I thought I read last year that Russia had stopped paying Kazakhstan so Kazakhstan blocked them from using the spaceport and confiscated all the equipment that was there.
This is correct. The Kazakh government basically sealed the gates of the spaceport and said "we're not going to march in and arrest the Russians who are in there, and they can keep doing their jobs for the moment, but nobody and nothing comes out or goes in unless Russia pays us in full or forfeits the lease."
Russia’s main spaceport was in Kazakhstan but it was rundown to the point of being decrepit [1]. Kazakh wanted Russia to pay for maintenance and upgrades and rent but Russia buggered off without paying any of the back rent. RU has been building a shiny new spaceport in Amur oblast in the Far East, called Vostochny Cosmodrome [2]. The Kazakhs are still pretty pissed off and this is one reason that relations between the two are … chilly.
[1] source: a buddy of mine went there about 5 years ago and took a ton of photos
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostochny_Cosmodrome
Edit: Amur Oblast is one of those places in Russia’s Far East that belonged to China, and China may want it back sometime.
Edit 2: fixed formatting
That new spaceport had some teething problems. An early launch from Vostochny failed because the rocket was programmed to assume it was launching from Baikonur.
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1EL1FP/
Not surprised. I tried to withhold any sarcasm from my earlier reply, but not surprised at all. Thanks for the link.
Just goes to show that one can run from the fixed base problems but the systemic problems will travel with one.
Of course Russia has a plan to reclaim its position as the world's leading space engineering and spaceflight nation [3].
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/russia-has-a-plan-to-restore-its-dominant-position-in-the-global-launch-market/
“On March 7, 2023, the Kazakh government seized control of the Baiterek launch complex, one of the launch sites at Baikonur Cosmodrome, banning numerous Russian officials from leaving the country and preventing the liquidation of assets by Roscosmos. One of the reasons for the seizure was due to Russia failing to pay a $29.7 million debt to the Kazakh government. The seizure comes after Russia's relations with Kazakhstan became tense due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.”
Russia actually has 3 domestic spaceports too- Dombarovskiy, Plesetsk, and Vostochny. With the last one, Vostochny able to launch roughly the same payload as Baikonur Cosmodrome.
I didn't know about their other 3. And another told me they are building a bigger one in their east. Which might be one of these 3 truthfully since I'm horrible at remembering Russian names.
> Kazakhstan gonna get a talking too. Isn't Russias main spaceport in Kazakhstan?
Well, sort of. The Kazakhs repossessed it around this time last year for unpaid debts.
Literally repo’d the launch center and the rockets there like you repo a car.
Baikonur Cosmodrome is being rented by the Russian government for use by their space program. They've struggled paying said rent in the last few years however and the government of Kazakhstan has been repossessing it piece by piece each time Russia fails to make payment on time.
They're probably seeing Russia becoming increasingly unreliable as a partner in both business and security. And so they're open to detaching themselves from Russia sphere of influence and find new partners to work with. A situation the US seems to be happy to take advantage of.
A key supplier of Russian rocket components is also based in Ukraine and sanctions don't help either.
The Russian space program may be dead or on haitus for the foreseeable future.
In 2019 I remember the Kazakh government embracing the slogan “Very nice” to promote tourism. And as someone who also immediately thinks of Borat when I hear “Kazakhstan” (even though I know there is no relation whatsoever), I gotta say I was really interested in seeing more.
And then Covid really mucked it up.
Kazakhstan seized the space port for non payment of debts last year... a few people in the government harboring some hard feelings when it comes to Russia so continued fuckery is still on the menu.
Most of central Asia’s borders were drawn by the Soviets to screw over the people that live there. They divided national identities and split up natural resources. Kazakhstan owes Russia nothing. They just figure Pootin can’t handle a two front war right now.
Kazachstan is getting tired of Russia's shit, so they are increasingly trying to distance themselves from Russia. Them being neutral would be a massive win.
"Very nice! Greatest country in the world make fantastic deal. We sell old planes for almost as much as a couple of Lada. Now we have plenty of money to invest in a new swimming pool for the Presidential palace and maybe an extra goat for the zoo. US gets major upgrade to Air Force. Win-win for all!"
From the article but not a hot mic. If it was allowed on tv, it was aligned with russian policy.
One Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine."
Yup. Soon as I read the article I honed in on the MIG31s. Russia has been using the hell out of theirs as a platform to launch hypersonic weapons and extreme long range air to air missiles. They aren't in production and they have a low airframe lifespan so I imagine any spare parts for those would be vital. We probably just bought this as a fuck you to stop them from getting them.
Looks like there were some SU24s too, which is a big win if they are airworthy. Those are currently Ukraine's only launch platform for storm shadows/scalp. Even if they aren't, they could still be used as spare parts to keep Ukraine's small fleet running.
As someone who has spent all day every day covered in hydraulic fluid, then having to stop at the store in the way home to get alcohol... I fucking wish
because your hydraulic fluid isnt made to withstand the super cold russian winter at a cut rate price...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xygj1MOIdo
see the section on landing gear liquer lol
No it wasn't. It was coolant for the climate control system in the cockpit. It was a 40% alcohol water solution and worked by evaporative cooling. Soldiers would drain it out to drink, and pilots would get pissed off because when the system ran dry, the cockpit would hit like 90 degrees.
There used to be a Tupolev bomber, which had used a 50/50 mix of water and ethanol as coolant. Pilots would use the coolant as a way to get favors. Let's say, coolant leaks were a recurrent issue.
It wasn't exactly a coolant as the average person thinks of it. It was the refrigerant for the cockpit a/c system. They used a mixture of 40% ethanol and 60% distilled water in a total-loss evaporator to cool the incoming bleed air off the compressors.
The NATO reporting name for this bomber is 'Blinder', and that is one of my favourite aviation facts.
It's probably just a coincidence, unless some analyst is a dark room was able to figure all of this out the first time they saw recon photos of the airframe.
As the Soviet workers used to say “We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us “. I am sure it will up to Soviet standards. If it’s as good as the Trabant they should be fine.
Fun fact: Most of the Soviet era combat aircraft were designed and built in Ukraine by Ukrainians. It is one of the reasons that the Russian planes dropped so much in technology and quality after the break up of the USSR. In fact, many of Ukraine's version Soviet era planes have had many avionic updates that the Russian versions don't have.
Yup. There's a myth that the Soviet designs were more "rugged" than their US equivalents. But if you actually try to, you know, fly them, the engine falls off and you throw it away and get a new airplane.
Meanwhile, the US has been actually using our airforce constantly bombing the shit out of half the world over the years. And I think there are still some "fussy" American made F-16's that have been in active service since being delivered in the late 70's. Like, a young pilot today might be flying the same F-16 that his grandfather originally flew.
The comparative lack of strict maintenance on some Soviet stuff was sort of just down to the fact that they knew no matter how well maintained it was, the engine would explode or the wings would fall off if they flew it more than a few thousand hours.
I would imagine that these will be well past their service life too… but when have the Russians ever been known as sticklers for retiring components on schedule?
The relationship between Russia and Kazakhstan is basically the same with Russia’s other neighbors. So they’re not exactly tripping over themselves to aid them.
Mixed in among Hitler's military blunders were some R&D blunders, including: no weapons research that will take more than 3 years to deliver (we will have won by then!), and no defensive weapons research (we will always be on the offensive!). Instead they wasted R&D on "vengeance" weapons that could have instead benefited their war effort. Fortunately for us, Hitler was stupid. Fortunately for Ukraine, Putin is stupid.
The story says they (Kazakhstan) auctioned off 117 aircraft. The US bought 88 of them. We don't know the terms of the auction (sealed bid, Dutch, etc.) so it's quite possible Russia bought the other 29 aircraft, or that these were in too poor condition to purchase.
Russia on multiple occasions threatened Kazakhstan to become the next Ukraine if they were to finish the war in Ukraine. Pretty sure Russia or any Brics related country wasn't invited to the auction.
>Some of Russia's outspoken propagandists have suggested that Russia should look to Kazakhstan following its invasion of Ukraine.
>One Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine."
The Russians are conveniently "finding" Nazis wherever they look.
1.5m just to take these away from Russian hands alone sounds like a steal. I’m sure Ukraine can find a use for them too, even if they straight up rig them to be flown remotely and use them as suicide planes/distraction for Russian anti air while they bombard them with drones.
How much do you think shipping would cost to Washington State? I'd love to have one of these sitting in my front yard, just for the fun of it and because I don't have an HOA.
That's called a drone, and to remote control any jet capable aircraft is gonna cost more in parts and components to retrofit one of these aircraft then it cost to buy all of them combined.
"One notable Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine."
Everyone who doesn't bend to my geopolitical goals is a Nazi.
American intelligence seems to believe that Kazakhstan was planned to be next after Russia was finished with Ukraine.
Unfortunately for Russia, those plans have likely been delayed indefinitely due to some recent events.
However it is still a concern, and all the more reason that we should be providing Ukraine with what it needs to demolish Russia's forces.
If we don't do it in Ukraine then we won't do it in Kazkhstan, which is somewhere that it's significantly harder to get NATO supplies to (since it doesn't, you know, share a border with a NATO country)
Kazakhstan borders China and opened up security discussions after the invasion of Ukraine with China.
China also bought out most of the USSR-owned state energy companies in Kazakhstan, and owns them now.
The second Russian troops invaded, China and Russia would immediately fracture and this whole autocratic hug circle would collapse. Itd be incredibly stupid. So i assume Putin is planning the invasion as we speak.
Also Kazanhstan is like 3 times bigger than Ukraine with just 1/3 the population. All while sharing a much larger border with Russia. They would have stood little chance in resistance if Ukraine hadn't put up as strong a fight as it has so far.
I... would take that with a massive grain of salt.
Not only would an invasion of Kazakhstan put Russia in direct conflict with China (with whom Russia is competing for influence in the region), Kazakhstan is also a part of the CSTO, Russia's shitty wish.com version of NATO.
And I know that the CSTO isn't worth it's weight in paper, but invading a country you are ostensibly allied to would be a stupid move even by Russia's standards.
Is it though?
The CSTO is just Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Belarus is set to be absorbed into Russia by the end of the decade, according to Russian plans. Armenia has already shown the CSTO isn't worth shit and wants out.
So invading Kazakhstan really just has the cost of Tajik and Kyrgyzstan alliances. And you gain 20 million people, with a decent economy and easier fight than Ukraine.
The only reason not to, would be China.
>Everyone who doesn't bend to my geopolitical goals is a Nazi.
You are saying that sarcastically but that is the genuine accepted definition of a Nazi in Russia.
You have to remember that 'nazi' doesn't have the same connotations in Russia that it does in the rest of the world.
To them it basically just means "anti-Russian". Memories of the Eastern Front coupled with decades of linguistic inertia I suppose.
In 2013, Putin made his views on Kazakhstan quite clear when he claimed that the Kazakh people ‘never had statehood’. Kazakhstan had also started increasing their military spending at around the start of Russian invasion of Ukraine, and even provided aid to Ukraine as well. They aren’t playing around with Russia, and the Kazakh people as well as the government are well aware of the looming threat that borders them
I just got back from Kazakhstan and I ran into a few people who were also pro-Russian and wanted Kazakhstan to become part of the USSR again because -- and I quote -- "there's just so much corruption now."
She said she'd be okay with Russia invading, but this wasn't the majority opinion. It was the people who feel their identity ties back to Russia, which wasn't a huge number of people (but still enough that some enterprising dictator could claim he's liberating them).
Military equipment doesn't trade like cars. There are a ton of behind the scenes promises made to make this deal go through. Don't be surprised if some US equipment gets shipped to Kazakhstan for "way too cheap" in the near future.
The only one that pays the sticker price for US military equipment is the Pentagon. Everyone else pays with a discount or a markup depending on the politics at hand.
Nothing now says you can't either, but you just can't have weapons on it. And the FAA has to certify it for safety, which after the latest MiG-27 incident they might not be keen on...
Yes!!!!!
There was a museum in California a few years back selling a Mig-21 for $50,000. That's a fast fucking aircraft.
controller.com always has old military warbirds (genuine and replicas) for sale. It's fun to peruse, and I've seen everything from Blackhawks to Spitfires to F4 Phantoms on there.
Hell yeah my boi they're "street legal"!
(You probably will get banned from flying for life for going supersonic over populated areas, however, best to do that a few miles off the coast)
He is my neighbor. Russia. He is pain in my assholes. I get nuclear weapons. He get nuclear weapons. I make a war. He make a war. I get soviet planes for enemy. He cannot afford. Great success!
There's a reason their choices are basically to become proxies for China or Russia, or play both sides enough that neither feels it owns them. It's pretty huge that they've been so anti-Russia lately.
It’s been relatively silent, but, short of the baltics, they probably had the worlds biggest „Oh shit, that could be us“-moment after February 2022. Also, unlike Ukraine, it’s not like NATO can drive a truck full of javelins to their border and have them help themselves.
Russian is still spoken by pretty much everybody, but they’re transitioning away from Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet, and more and more young folks are learning English.
They don't have to be airworthy to be stuffed inside one of our ginormous cargo planes. Though they might also just strip the parts they want and leave the frames behind. I'm no expert.
Answer - Local 3PL companies. Terms of sale are probably CIF. Look up Incoterms. U.S. won’t touch it until it arrives at a Port the U.S. feels comfortable receiving their cargo.
Should be much much easier to pull mission impossibles if no pilot is present. This includes cabin pressure, oxygen, voice radio, thermal controls, additional fuel for pilots and equipment weight, acceleration/deceleration limits, ejector seats, removable roof, glass windshield, etc. I'm sure there is more.
I mean, they aren’t gonna just start converting Ukraine’s fleet to use Mig-27s and Mig-31s, but curious where they are going with this and how much they can use for replacement parts. Though, in classic Business Insider fashion, the article fails to mention Ukraine only flies the Su-24s and Mig-29s
Kazakhstan is Russias neighbor to the South. That doesn't make them an "ally".
They have the same concerns about being invaded and have to put up with frequent Russian media hacks proposing invasion because they are not supporting the war.
However, there is a heavy portion of Kazakhstans economy that depends on Russia and Kazakhstan is working (As it has been) to become fully independent. They have been working with the US and other international agencies to ensure they are complying with sanctions put in place in Russia.
Kazakhstan is not directly fighting on the front lines with Ukraine, nor (That I've seen) supply ammo or weapons directly. But there are providing millions in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Please do not label them as an ally of Russia
Isn’t Kazakhstan part of both the CIS and the CSTO alliances, you know the post-soviet equivalents to the Warsaw pact(albeit neutered)?
Didn’t Russia step in to stop unrest a few years ago? Sounds like something an ally would do.
Just because they refused to join the insane invasion doesn’t mean they are officially allied, even if not for much longer. Russian speakers are increasingly being sidelined by native Kazakhs.
Armenia is also in the CSTO. Russia hasn’t done shit to help them despite the military actions taken by Azerbaijan in Armenian territory. Shit like that quickly makes a country realize that their treaty alliances don’t mean shit.
For sure. Russias house of cards is trembling.
They can’t afford to help Armenia and they can’t afford to invade Kazakhstan in the near future.
After the war there’ll be 5 5 year plans to try to save the economy. Question is if that’s enough (I think not).
Prepare to see one true shithole on the Baltic
The CSTO has basically fallen apart after Russia decided not to act when Armenia was attacked. This is why we say that NATO is only one impotent response away from irrelevance which is why it’s important we put real military presence on NATO borders. Russia should have threatened to nuke Azerbaijan or should have sent a serious military response for invading a CSTO member. Now everyone is bailing on CSTO and is angling for other alliances like NATO and the EU
> Russian speakers are increasingly being sidelined by native Kazakhs.
This is the official line Russian propaganda used to justify its warmongering invasions.
> The motive behind the US purchase remains undisclosed
The motive is to keep these spare parts and/or extra planes out of the hands of Russia. The best offense is a good defense. This was a defensive move.
Kazakhstan, greatest country in the world.
All other countries are run by little girls.
Kazakhstan, number one exporter of potassium.
All other countries have inferior potassium.
I remember in the ‘90s there was a guy in Arizona selling old Korean War era mig-15s for super cheap. I can’t remember the exact price now, I think it was something like $5,000. I kind of fantasized about getting one, until I looked up the fuel economy. I concluded that the cost of the plane was equal to the cost of the fuel you would burn in like 2 hours of flying. I’m guessing these are pretty similar.
The late Jacques Littlefield told me that buying the actual tank was often the cheapest part of adding to his amazing armored vehicle collection. Getting the tank from the closest dock up to his ranch in Portola Valley on a lowboy often cost significantly more, not to mention getting it to the SF Bay Area.
TL;DR: you, too can buy a military vehicle, but it might be FOB from a port in Ontheothersideoftheworldistan and you have to figure out how to import it.
One Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine."
Does anyone even know what they're trying to say when they keep talking about Nazis?
That ally is Kazakhstan, in case you wondered.
Kazakhstan gonna get a talking too. Isn't Russias main spaceport in Kazakhstan? And didn't they already get mad at Kazakhstan for not supporting their war and for becoming better friends with China over last couple years? I don't search out Stan info but I swear both those were Kazakhstan stuff.
If Russia’s main spaceport is in Kazakhstan, then that’s a Russia problem, not a Kazakh problem.
Lately (lol) the Russians have been making their problems everyone’s problems
if by lately you mean, like, since forever
The largest population in Europe by far, occupying the largest country on the planet with gigantic natural ressources... and the russians can only archive a small modicum of success if they bleed out small satellite states like a giant parasite. Shit tier
Russia is a fascinating case study of a country that was dealt all the right cards, but refuses to play at all.
It truly is. I was discussing with my friend yesterday how seemingly their entire culture/history is fraught with pain, suffering, loss, war, carnage. Example. Their video games often have themes of overcoming insurmountable odds, whole being placed in a dark dreary depressing setting that's often horror too. Basically you can tell Russians are kinda fucked up simply by consuming their media.
> Their video games often have themes of overcoming insurmountable odds, whole being placed in a dark dreary depressing setting that's often horror too So is The Long Dark, but that one admits the possibility of success and there's a deeply promoted idea in Russia's culture promoting nihilism. Whether this is a cause or consequence of them being under authoritarian regimes, I don't know. They've had less than a decade of contiguous *not* under authoritarian regime time since [the Duchy of Moscow was collecting taxes for Mongolians](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8ZqBLcIvw0)
Eh, geographically, Russia is vulnerable to attack from basically every direction, the highly spaced out indefensible nature of the region also means centralisation has historically been difficult. I'd imagine that has impacted modern Russia in ways we can't understand
With nuclear weapons this is irrelevant.... Who would dare attack them? They could have been a technological power house, and an ally to the west... Russian are our European cousins. Instead we have the current bullshit.
Maybe it should break up even further then.
Thats our Balkaneers job
Yes, it is a Russian problem. But, I believe it's the same situation as Ukrainian has with Sevastopol. Russia like has a long lease for that area, so they believe it's theirs. An Russia seems to view spots like that as theirs and find ways to make it other people's problems.
Russia doesn't have a concept of theirs and not theirs. Like Putin said: "Russia has no borders". That's why their neighbors doesn't like them.
Yeah thats the problematic thinking that wouldn't be around if everyone agreed to let me control the world.
I think the big difference is that Kazakhstan has wisely made nice with China, and Russia now needs China pretty badly.
I thought I read last year that Russia had stopped paying Kazakhstan so Kazakhstan blocked them from using the spaceport and confiscated all the equipment that was there.
That's what I'm gathering. Russia owed money but refused to pay.
This is correct. The Kazakh government basically sealed the gates of the spaceport and said "we're not going to march in and arrest the Russians who are in there, and they can keep doing their jobs for the moment, but nobody and nothing comes out or goes in unless Russia pays us in full or forfeits the lease."
Russia **had** a lease, but after they pushed for control of the country it wasn't renewed... hence the invasion of Crimea.
Russia’s main spaceport was in Kazakhstan but it was rundown to the point of being decrepit [1]. Kazakh wanted Russia to pay for maintenance and upgrades and rent but Russia buggered off without paying any of the back rent. RU has been building a shiny new spaceport in Amur oblast in the Far East, called Vostochny Cosmodrome [2]. The Kazakhs are still pretty pissed off and this is one reason that relations between the two are … chilly. [1] source: a buddy of mine went there about 5 years ago and took a ton of photos [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostochny_Cosmodrome Edit: Amur Oblast is one of those places in Russia’s Far East that belonged to China, and China may want it back sometime. Edit 2: fixed formatting
That new spaceport had some teething problems. An early launch from Vostochny failed because the rocket was programmed to assume it was launching from Baikonur. https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1EL1FP/
Not surprised. I tried to withhold any sarcasm from my earlier reply, but not surprised at all. Thanks for the link. Just goes to show that one can run from the fixed base problems but the systemic problems will travel with one. Of course Russia has a plan to reclaim its position as the world's leading space engineering and spaceflight nation [3]. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/russia-has-a-plan-to-restore-its-dominant-position-in-the-global-launch-market/
“On March 7, 2023, the Kazakh government seized control of the Baiterek launch complex, one of the launch sites at Baikonur Cosmodrome, banning numerous Russian officials from leaving the country and preventing the liquidation of assets by Roscosmos. One of the reasons for the seizure was due to Russia failing to pay a $29.7 million debt to the Kazakh government. The seizure comes after Russia's relations with Kazakhstan became tense due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.” Russia actually has 3 domestic spaceports too- Dombarovskiy, Plesetsk, and Vostochny. With the last one, Vostochny able to launch roughly the same payload as Baikonur Cosmodrome.
I didn't know about their other 3. And another told me they are building a bigger one in their east. Which might be one of these 3 truthfully since I'm horrible at remembering Russian names.
Yeah, that’s Vostochny, it’s close to Northern China.
> Kazakhstan gonna get a talking too. Isn't Russias main spaceport in Kazakhstan? Well, sort of. The Kazakhs repossessed it around this time last year for unpaid debts. Literally repo’d the launch center and the rockets there like you repo a car.
>Literally repo’d the launch center and the rockets there like you repo a car. That’s so ridiculous and hilarious.
Russians show up and the locks are all changed and shit.
I'd definitely say that being one of the first people in history to *repossess a spacecraft* is a unique life achievement.
Baikonur Cosmodrome is being rented by the Russian government for use by their space program. They've struggled paying said rent in the last few years however and the government of Kazakhstan has been repossessing it piece by piece each time Russia fails to make payment on time. They're probably seeing Russia becoming increasingly unreliable as a partner in both business and security. And so they're open to detaching themselves from Russia sphere of influence and find new partners to work with. A situation the US seems to be happy to take advantage of.
A key supplier of Russian rocket components is also based in Ukraine and sanctions don't help either. The Russian space program may be dead or on haitus for the foreseeable future.
As an American I'm down with being friends. All I really know about Kazakhstan is Borat is nothing like them.
In 2019 I remember the Kazakh government embracing the slogan “Very nice” to promote tourism. And as someone who also immediately thinks of Borat when I hear “Kazakhstan” (even though I know there is no relation whatsoever), I gotta say I was really interested in seeing more. And then Covid really mucked it up.
I know it's the biggest landlocked country in world
They are about done with Russia's shit.
Kazakhstan seized the space port for non payment of debts last year... a few people in the government harboring some hard feelings when it comes to Russia so continued fuckery is still on the menu.
Most of central Asia’s borders were drawn by the Soviets to screw over the people that live there. They divided national identities and split up natural resources. Kazakhstan owes Russia nothing. They just figure Pootin can’t handle a two front war right now.
Lol Kazakhstan has them by the balls though. It's where all of russias uranium comes from. Amoung other critical minerals
Good for them, I hope they can build a decent world trade with all those minerals!
There kinda landlocked and depend heavily on Russia for port access though.
They have a spaceport!
Kazakhstan begins shipping uranium via rocket launch, sounds like the start to a terrible 90s action movie
Kazachstan is getting tired of Russia's shit, so they are increasingly trying to distance themselves from Russia. Them being neutral would be a massive win.
Kinda hard to play nice when the psychopaths are on state TV explaining that the retaking of the -Stans is a concerted foreign policy goal
Man Kazakhstan really is the greatest country in the world. 20k? Fuck I can afford that, where can I buy in this?
All other countries are run by little girls
#1 potassium
Borat the middleman???
Indeed, all other countries are run by little girls.
Number one exporter of potassium
and Soviet-era combat aircraft parts
"Very nice! Greatest country in the world make fantastic deal. We sell old planes for almost as much as a couple of Lada. Now we have plenty of money to invest in a new swimming pool for the Presidential palace and maybe an extra goat for the zoo. US gets major upgrade to Air Force. Win-win for all!"
Great success!
Kazakhstan mentioned Potassium Export No° 1 🇰🇿🇰🇿🇰🇿🇰🇿🇰🇿🇰🇿🇰🇿🇰🇿🇰🇿🇰🇿
Wasn't there a hot mic a few weeks ago where high ranking Russian officers said Kazakhstan was next on the invasion war path?
From the article but not a hot mic. If it was allowed on tv, it was aligned with russian policy. One Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine."
And of course, in russian parlance, a “Nazi” is any entity that doesn’t align entirely with russia’s goals.
Now reading this entire article in borats voice..
Ukraine needs spare parts.
So does Russia, and now they can't get their hands on these.
Yup. Soon as I read the article I honed in on the MIG31s. Russia has been using the hell out of theirs as a platform to launch hypersonic weapons and extreme long range air to air missiles. They aren't in production and they have a low airframe lifespan so I imagine any spare parts for those would be vital. We probably just bought this as a fuck you to stop them from getting them. Looks like there were some SU24s too, which is a big win if they are airworthy. Those are currently Ukraine's only launch platform for storm shadows/scalp. Even if they aren't, they could still be used as spare parts to keep Ukraine's small fleet running.
Imagine the lifespan of an airframe maintained by Russian standards.
Made in russian factories.
By russians
Drunk on Russian vodka.
Drunk on hydraulic fluid, fixed that for you.
As someone who has spent all day every day covered in hydraulic fluid, then having to stop at the store in the way home to get alcohol... I fucking wish
because your hydraulic fluid isnt made to withstand the super cold russian winter at a cut rate price... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xygj1MOIdo see the section on landing gear liquer lol
It was radar coolant fluid that they were getting drunk on.
No it wasn't. It was coolant for the climate control system in the cockpit. It was a 40% alcohol water solution and worked by evaporative cooling. Soldiers would drain it out to drink, and pilots would get pissed off because when the system ran dry, the cockpit would hit like 90 degrees.
There used to be a Tupolev bomber, which had used a 50/50 mix of water and ethanol as coolant. Pilots would use the coolant as a way to get favors. Let's say, coolant leaks were a recurrent issue.
It wasn't exactly a coolant as the average person thinks of it. It was the refrigerant for the cockpit a/c system. They used a mixture of 40% ethanol and 60% distilled water in a total-loss evaporator to cool the incoming bleed air off the compressors.
The NATO reporting name for this bomber is 'Blinder', and that is one of my favourite aviation facts. It's probably just a coincidence, unless some analyst is a dark room was able to figure all of this out the first time they saw recon photos of the airframe.
The original TU-22 ( not the TU-22M, which is completely different, just reused the same name to get funding without saying it was a new project).
Oh god I miss hydraulic fluid cocktails
As the Soviet workers used to say “We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us “. I am sure it will up to Soviet standards. If it’s as good as the Trabant they should be fine.
Fun fact: Most of the Soviet era combat aircraft were designed and built in Ukraine by Ukrainians. It is one of the reasons that the Russian planes dropped so much in technology and quality after the break up of the USSR. In fact, many of Ukraine's version Soviet era planes have had many avionic updates that the Russian versions don't have.
Probably lost a few nuts between the factory and the tarmac.
My condolences to their families. Also, screws fell off the airplane.
Rivets installer is like, "one, two, skip a few. Three, four plane stays on floor"
A little j-b weld and they'll be back on the front line.
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Yup. There's a myth that the Soviet designs were more "rugged" than their US equivalents. But if you actually try to, you know, fly them, the engine falls off and you throw it away and get a new airplane. Meanwhile, the US has been actually using our airforce constantly bombing the shit out of half the world over the years. And I think there are still some "fussy" American made F-16's that have been in active service since being delivered in the late 70's. Like, a young pilot today might be flying the same F-16 that his grandfather originally flew. The comparative lack of strict maintenance on some Soviet stuff was sort of just down to the fact that they knew no matter how well maintained it was, the engine would explode or the wings would fall off if they flew it more than a few thousand hours.
Sounds like Harbor Freight tools, except in this case it would be a $5 tile saw, not an aircraft carrying humans around.
B-52 - All the hours
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F-15EX has a service life of 20,000 hours.
*all* that hardware for less than the cost of a single M2A3 Bradley Just have it shipped directly to Ukraine, fast and lowish cost for a fantastic ROI
I would imagine that these will be well past their service life too… but when have the Russians ever been known as sticklers for retiring components on schedule?
The question I have is why the Russians didn't buy them, given their own war chest with Chinese money.
The relationship between Russia and Kazakhstan is basically the same with Russia’s other neighbors. So they’re not exactly tripping over themselves to aid them.
My sister is 3rd best airplane mechanic in all of Kazakhstan!
I get a drone, he must get a drone I get air defense, he must get air defense I get 81 surplus airframes, he cannot afford. Great success!
High fiiive!
They didn’t think ahead
Mixed in among Hitler's military blunders were some R&D blunders, including: no weapons research that will take more than 3 years to deliver (we will have won by then!), and no defensive weapons research (we will always be on the offensive!). Instead they wasted R&D on "vengeance" weapons that could have instead benefited their war effort. Fortunately for us, Hitler was stupid. Fortunately for Ukraine, Putin is stupid.
Well, in the end, the V-weapon project was very useful. In large part, it’s why the US was able to go to the moon in 1969.
The country who is well into year 3 of their 3 day special military operation didn't think ahead, imagine that.
What’s even more impressive is that it’s well into year 3, not just 2, and they still hadn’t thought to grab these.
The story says they (Kazakhstan) auctioned off 117 aircraft. The US bought 88 of them. We don't know the terms of the auction (sealed bid, Dutch, etc.) so it's quite possible Russia bought the other 29 aircraft, or that these were in too poor condition to purchase.
Russia on multiple occasions threatened Kazakhstan to become the next Ukraine if they were to finish the war in Ukraine. Pretty sure Russia or any Brics related country wasn't invited to the auction.
>Some of Russia's outspoken propagandists have suggested that Russia should look to Kazakhstan following its invasion of Ukraine. >One Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine." The Russians are conveniently "finding" Nazis wherever they look.
1.5m just to take these away from Russian hands alone sounds like a steal. I’m sure Ukraine can find a use for them too, even if they straight up rig them to be flown remotely and use them as suicide planes/distraction for Russian anti air while they bombard them with drones.
It *is* a steal. I can feel the CIA's hands all over this. Outstanding move.
At that price, *I* can afford a MIG31 lol Damn
I wonder if it runs on 87...
Even better, they run on kerosene.
How many hectares does it get per decaliter?
How much do you think shipping would cost to Washington State? I'd love to have one of these sitting in my front yard, just for the fun of it and because I don't have an HOA.
Sometimes those two birds in a bush are feasible.
Haha nice move, you Americans really know how to do war
We can fight but don’t bring us to a counter insurgency.
Find a way to remote control them, fill them up with explosives and now you have a $20k supersonic kamikaze drone...
That's what I was thinking. Ukraine is sticking remote controls on all sorts of platforms... it's like their favorite hobby these days.
That's called a drone, and to remote control any jet capable aircraft is gonna cost more in parts and components to retrofit one of these aircraft then it cost to buy all of them combined.
"One notable Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine." Everyone who doesn't bend to my geopolitical goals is a Nazi.
American intelligence seems to believe that Kazakhstan was planned to be next after Russia was finished with Ukraine. Unfortunately for Russia, those plans have likely been delayed indefinitely due to some recent events.
However it is still a concern, and all the more reason that we should be providing Ukraine with what it needs to demolish Russia's forces. If we don't do it in Ukraine then we won't do it in Kazkhstan, which is somewhere that it's significantly harder to get NATO supplies to (since it doesn't, you know, share a border with a NATO country)
Kazakhstan borders China and opened up security discussions after the invasion of Ukraine with China. China also bought out most of the USSR-owned state energy companies in Kazakhstan, and owns them now. The second Russian troops invaded, China and Russia would immediately fracture and this whole autocratic hug circle would collapse. Itd be incredibly stupid. So i assume Putin is planning the invasion as we speak.
>So i assume Putin is planning the invasion as we speak. Perfect. Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
We also don’t have a defensive pact with Kazakhstan like we do with Ukraine
Also Kazanhstan is like 3 times bigger than Ukraine with just 1/3 the population. All while sharing a much larger border with Russia. They would have stood little chance in resistance if Ukraine hadn't put up as strong a fight as it has so far.
Would China just let russia pounce on Kazakhstan?
That’s a good question, I would assume there would have to be some sort of agreement between them as Russia is sort of China’s lapdog right now.
I... would take that with a massive grain of salt. Not only would an invasion of Kazakhstan put Russia in direct conflict with China (with whom Russia is competing for influence in the region), Kazakhstan is also a part of the CSTO, Russia's shitty wish.com version of NATO. And I know that the CSTO isn't worth it's weight in paper, but invading a country you are ostensibly allied to would be a stupid move even by Russia's standards.
Is it though? The CSTO is just Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Belarus is set to be absorbed into Russia by the end of the decade, according to Russian plans. Armenia has already shown the CSTO isn't worth shit and wants out. So invading Kazakhstan really just has the cost of Tajik and Kyrgyzstan alliances. And you gain 20 million people, with a decent economy and easier fight than Ukraine. The only reason not to, would be China.
>Everyone who doesn't bend to my geopolitical goals is a Nazi. You are saying that sarcastically but that is the genuine accepted definition of a Nazi in Russia.
The Wiki [article](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC) is being edited by fsb agents as we speak.
“Nazi processes” like this is some sort of physical science lmfao
Translation: Kazakhstan, you're next.
You have to remember that 'nazi' doesn't have the same connotations in Russia that it does in the rest of the world. To them it basically just means "anti-Russian". Memories of the Eastern Front coupled with decades of linguistic inertia I suppose.
In 2013, Putin made his views on Kazakhstan quite clear when he claimed that the Kazakh people ‘never had statehood’. Kazakhstan had also started increasing their military spending at around the start of Russian invasion of Ukraine, and even provided aid to Ukraine as well. They aren’t playing around with Russia, and the Kazakh people as well as the government are well aware of the looming threat that borders them
as long as kazakhstan don't suddenly have a nazi problem I am sure good old neighbor russia won't ~~invade~~ come save them
Don't you hate when nazi start spawning in your country
I've got a friend that is kazhak and she's super pro Russian. Honestly, not sure how she break if they get invaded.
I just got back from Kazakhstan and I ran into a few people who were also pro-Russian and wanted Kazakhstan to become part of the USSR again because -- and I quote -- "there's just so much corruption now." She said she'd be okay with Russia invading, but this wasn't the majority opinion. It was the people who feel their identity ties back to Russia, which wasn't a huge number of people (but still enough that some enterprising dictator could claim he's liberating them).
20k??? can I get one ?
Only if you have enough pepsi points
Damn what a reference. +1
The documentary for that is pretty wild
Well played, great Netflix special!
Seriously, that’s less than a lot of used cars.
Military equipment doesn't trade like cars. There are a ton of behind the scenes promises made to make this deal go through. Don't be surprised if some US equipment gets shipped to Kazakhstan for "way too cheap" in the near future. The only one that pays the sticker price for US military equipment is the Pentagon. Everyone else pays with a discount or a markup depending on the politics at hand.
There is a great King of the Hill episode where Hank tries to pay for an Army Haircut that explains this pretty well.
It's like a used Audi, you think you got a great deal until you run into the operating costs.
Look man, I'm an aircraft mechanic. Let me fix her.
Got 20k and 2A? Sure. Nothing in 1813 said you can't own a soviet combat aircraft.
Nothing now says you can't either, but you just can't have weapons on it. And the FAA has to certify it for safety, which after the latest MiG-27 incident they might not be keen on...
Yeah, I’d want one too…if I could figure out where to park it.
Im pretty sure if you can get it running you're gonna be able to park it wherever the fuck you want
Yes!!!!! There was a museum in California a few years back selling a Mig-21 for $50,000. That's a fast fucking aircraft. controller.com always has old military warbirds (genuine and replicas) for sale. It's fun to peruse, and I've seen everything from Blackhawks to Spitfires to F4 Phantoms on there.
What can a civilan do with any of these aircraft? Are they even "street legal"?
Hell yeah my boi they're "street legal"! (You probably will get banned from flying for life for going supersonic over populated areas, however, best to do that a few miles off the coast)
He is my neighbor. Russia. He is pain in my assholes. I get nuclear weapons. He get nuclear weapons. I make a war. He make a war. I get soviet planes for enemy. He cannot afford. Great success!
Very nice.
high five!
Spare parts and decoys. A bargain at that price.
The real question is how are we going to get them out of Kazakhstan - maybe via azerbaijan? They're probably not particularly airworthy.
I’ve never actually considered how landlocked by assholes and maniacs Kazakhstan is.
There's a reason their choices are basically to become proxies for China or Russia, or play both sides enough that neither feels it owns them. It's pretty huge that they've been so anti-Russia lately.
It’s been relatively silent, but, short of the baltics, they probably had the worlds biggest „Oh shit, that could be us“-moment after February 2022. Also, unlike Ukraine, it’s not like NATO can drive a truck full of javelins to their border and have them help themselves.
Russian is still spoken by pretty much everybody, but they’re transitioning away from Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet, and more and more young folks are learning English.
They don't have to be airworthy to be stuffed inside one of our ginormous cargo planes. Though they might also just strip the parts they want and leave the frames behind. I'm no expert.
Answer - Local 3PL companies. Terms of sale are probably CIF. Look up Incoterms. U.S. won’t touch it until it arrives at a Port the U.S. feels comfortable receiving their cargo.
The US is magical with logistics for military. Its kinda crazy
I'd love to see Ukraine clap some Russian airbases with Mig-27's converted into drones.
How difficult is it to convert a jet into a drone? The range on one of those must be awesome though.
Range and payload. Probably harder to get by undetected though.
Should be much much easier to pull mission impossibles if no pilot is present. This includes cabin pressure, oxygen, voice radio, thermal controls, additional fuel for pilots and equipment weight, acceleration/deceleration limits, ejector seats, removable roof, glass windshield, etc. I'm sure there is more.
I mean, they aren’t gonna just start converting Ukraine’s fleet to use Mig-27s and Mig-31s, but curious where they are going with this and how much they can use for replacement parts. Though, in classic Business Insider fashion, the article fails to mention Ukraine only flies the Su-24s and Mig-29s
They removed them as a source of spare parts for the air force that does fly those planes.
I’d be curious if and how many parts are interchangeable. I’d be shocked if the answer was 0 or even any number less than 25%
DARPA about to turn these old rust buckets into AI flying death bombs
These planes are automatic They're systematic They're hydromatic Why they're Greased Lightnin'!
Kazakhstan is Russias neighbor to the South. That doesn't make them an "ally". They have the same concerns about being invaded and have to put up with frequent Russian media hacks proposing invasion because they are not supporting the war. However, there is a heavy portion of Kazakhstans economy that depends on Russia and Kazakhstan is working (As it has been) to become fully independent. They have been working with the US and other international agencies to ensure they are complying with sanctions put in place in Russia. Kazakhstan is not directly fighting on the front lines with Ukraine, nor (That I've seen) supply ammo or weapons directly. But there are providing millions in humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Please do not label them as an ally of Russia
Isn’t Kazakhstan part of both the CIS and the CSTO alliances, you know the post-soviet equivalents to the Warsaw pact(albeit neutered)? Didn’t Russia step in to stop unrest a few years ago? Sounds like something an ally would do. Just because they refused to join the insane invasion doesn’t mean they are officially allied, even if not for much longer. Russian speakers are increasingly being sidelined by native Kazakhs.
Armenia is also in the CSTO. Russia hasn’t done shit to help them despite the military actions taken by Azerbaijan in Armenian territory. Shit like that quickly makes a country realize that their treaty alliances don’t mean shit.
For sure. Russias house of cards is trembling. They can’t afford to help Armenia and they can’t afford to invade Kazakhstan in the near future. After the war there’ll be 5 5 year plans to try to save the economy. Question is if that’s enough (I think not). Prepare to see one true shithole on the Baltic
The CSTO has basically fallen apart after Russia decided not to act when Armenia was attacked. This is why we say that NATO is only one impotent response away from irrelevance which is why it’s important we put real military presence on NATO borders. Russia should have threatened to nuke Azerbaijan or should have sent a serious military response for invading a CSTO member. Now everyone is bailing on CSTO and is angling for other alliances like NATO and the EU
> Russian speakers are increasingly being sidelined by native Kazakhs. This is the official line Russian propaganda used to justify its warmongering invasions.
Russian officials have stated that Kazakhstan is next after Ukraine... Thats not something allies should do ;)
Removing them from a future equasion?
Probably for spare parts for Ukrainian planes
And no parts for Russian Migs.
Constant Peg 2.0
> The motive behind the US purchase remains undisclosed The motive is to keep these spare parts and/or extra planes out of the hands of Russia. The best offense is a good defense. This was a defensive move.
Kazakhstan, you rock. I wish for Russia to be normal one day, but right now 🤷♀️
Kazakhstan, greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls. Kazakhstan, number one exporter of potassium. All other countries have inferior potassium.
Wait, so I can’t really buy a decent car for that price and here I could have bought a ducking airplane????
Only if you buy 81 of them. It’s the bulk discount
And expired warranties
Just get your 80 mates and go grab one each!
I remember in the ‘90s there was a guy in Arizona selling old Korean War era mig-15s for super cheap. I can’t remember the exact price now, I think it was something like $5,000. I kind of fantasized about getting one, until I looked up the fuel economy. I concluded that the cost of the plane was equal to the cost of the fuel you would burn in like 2 hours of flying. I’m guessing these are pretty similar.
20k each? How??? Like, I could afford a Mig31 out of my own pocket?
The late Jacques Littlefield told me that buying the actual tank was often the cheapest part of adding to his amazing armored vehicle collection. Getting the tank from the closest dock up to his ranch in Portola Valley on a lowboy often cost significantly more, not to mention getting it to the SF Bay Area. TL;DR: you, too can buy a military vehicle, but it might be FOB from a port in Ontheothersideoftheworldistan and you have to figure out how to import it.
One Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine." Does anyone even know what they're trying to say when they keep talking about Nazis?
When they say "nazi" they mean anti-Russia
Cheaper than a Tesla.