I looked around
I looked around a found this story
Which shows 1.5- I assume $1.5 million but I don't know. On this Blog I found there are more stories about African countries. I didn't know a lot of this stuff maybe somebody from this region could comment what's on this Blog looks correct? Hope it helps a little at least to get an idea.
Any idea exactly what type Mig-23s they are? Any idea from which country they were bought from? Are they night capable because that would mean costing more and mostly likely had some upgrades made to them? Do you have anymore info or clues to work with?
Regrets Only: An Africa Journal: December 2007
... mission in the southwest African country expired. I was again in the Angolan capital, Luanda, and had this assessment. The effort in Angola has cost 1.5 ...
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Monday, December 31, 2007
Deciding to Let the UNITA Scoop Slip Quietly Into Oblivion
As days went by and my efforts to obtain additional information about UNITA’s purported acquisition of MiGs, Hinds and Frogs proved fruitless, I decided to drop the story. Nonetheless, others were taking the information, and the threat it posed to the peace process, quite seriously.
The Angola Peace Monitor, for example, in its newsletter (Issue no. 8, Vol. V 29th April 1999), wrote:
“There have been several reports claiming that UNITA has bought six MiG-23 fighter jets (the London-based journal Southscan suggests that the aircraft could be Sukhoi-5's), and six Hind Mi-25 assault helicopters. If true, it would represent a spectacular increase in UNITA's capacity. However, a weapons expert quoted by the South African-based Mail & Guardian, said that six MiG's were too few to fundamentally alter the balance of power, and that 18 would be needed.
“According to reports the aircraft are being operated by mercenaries from either South Africa or Ukraine. Reports vary on where the MiG's are kept, with some saying that they are in Jamba in the south of Angola, with others claiming that they are kept in Togo in West Africa.
“However, many commentators doubt the veracity of these reports, pointing to the difficulties in maintaining and fuelling the aircraft, along with problems of airstrips and hiding the aircraft. The general consensus is that whilst it is possible, it is unlikely that UNITA has assault helicopters and improbable that they have fighter aircraft. One source has told the Angola Peace Monitor that UNITA did attempt to buy MiG's over a year ago, but were unable to complete the deal due to logistical problems.
“Despite the belief among commentators that the story is likely to emanate from UNITA itself for propaganda purposes, the upsurge in fighting in December 1998 showed that UNITA is much better armed than expected.
Human Rights Watch issued a lengthy report by Alex Vines in 1999 titled “ANGOLA UNRAVELS: The Rise and Fall of the Lusaka Peace Process” in which he wrote:
“Richard Cornwall of the Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies has made more dramatic claims. He claims that UNITA recently obtained six Russian-made MiG-23 fighter aircraft, six MI-25 combat helicopters, fifty tanks and seventy armored troop carriers. He said the weaponry came mainly via Ukrainian suppliers. Cornwall has also claimed that the rebels have recently obtained more than twenty Russian-built unguided ground-to-ground mini-scud missiles, knownas FROGs, from North Korea and three Fox 7 surface to air missiles. To date Human Rights Watch has not independently confirmed this information.”
A footnote to this section stated: “Sean Cleary, Director of Strategic Concepts Ltd in South Africa, claims that he possesses evidence of one shipment of FROG rockets to UNITA from North Korea via Benin. He also claimed that UNITA may have obtained a couple of Alouette helicopters and two Mi-8 helicopters but that he did not believe the reports that UNITA had MiG-23s. Human Rights Watch interview , London, April 13, 1999.)”
In a few days, I will post the information I obtained in November 2002 from a senior UNITA official about these alleged arms purchases. I also have fresh queries out to some of my original sources to see if, with the passage of time, they might be willing to shed additional light on the origins of this scoop-that-wasn’t.
Link to the site
http://reporterregrets.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html