Government decision to turn old MiG planes into scrap

TIRANA, Oct. 19 – The government decided Oct. 4 to turn the remaining MiG fighters into scrap, the local newspaper Korrieri reported Thursday. A secret decision, which was not published on the government website, said that eight MiG 15 fighters and six MiG 17 fighters, a transport Il-28, thirteen Jak-18, and eight AN-2 would be destroyed and sold as scrap. The government had also decided to scrap some fighter guns and 930 tons of ammunition. A year ago Albania decided to stop using MiG fighter jets because of high maintenance costs and the planes’ unreliability. Albania’s military uses 125 Soviet- and Chinese-made MiG-17, MiG-19 and MiG-21 jets. It also has used MiG-15s for training. In 2004 a MiG-19 crashed during takeoff, killing the pilot. Albania now relies on helicopters for military and humanitarian purposes. Tirana also plans to use military surveillance planes after 2007. Albania is reforming its military in hopes of joining NATO in 2008.