MiG-29

Police have closed the investigation into the disappearance of MiG-29 fighter jet parts from the military air base in Kecskemét (central Hungary), concluding that no criminal offense had been committed. The decision, however, leaves several questions unanswered, while the Ministry of Defense has yet to disclose the findings of its own internal investigation.

The Bács-Kiskun County Police Headquarters told Blikk that the investigation had been terminated due to the absence of a criminal offense. The case came to light last year after it emerged that unknown individuals had entered the military facility by breaching its perimeter fence and damaged several decommissioned MiG-29 fighter jets that had been out of service for years. According to reports at the time, the intruders removed components from the radar systems located beneath the aircrafts’ nose cones.

The Hungarian Defense Forces introduced the Soviet-built MiG-29 into service in 1993, operating a total of 28 aircraft. The type was retired in 2010, when the Hungarian Air Force transitioned to Gripen fighter jets.

The new JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets. Photo: MTI/Ujvári Sándor

Following the incident, the Ministry of Defense announced that Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky had ordered an internal investigation. Blikk recently asked the ministry whether the inquiry had been completed and what conclusions it had reached, but no response had been received by the time the article was published.

Police nevertheless confirmed that the criminal investigation had been closed because no crime had been established.

Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, the current Minister of Defense, had previously challenged the ministry’s claim that the stolen components were unusable and therefore had no market value. In a lengthy social media post published in September 2025, he wrote: “The Ministry of Defense stated that the MiG-29 parts stolen from the Kecskemét military air base were ‘unusable’ and ‘had no market value.’ This was intended to reassure the public that neither the operation of the air base nor the capabilities of the Air Force had been compromised. However, international examples and independent criminal investigations contradict this claim with facts. The ministry’s statement is not only an oversimplification but also misleading and untrue. Independent experience shows that MiG-29 aircraft and their components can represent considerable value. (…) The ministry’s responsibility extends beyond protecting military infrastructure; it must also provide the public with accurate and credible information. If the public is not given a realistic picture of the consequences of a theft, trust in the institutions responsible for national defense is undermined.”

Although Ruszin-Szendi insisted that certain MiG-29 components could be highly valuable internationally, the latest development—the closure of the police investigation without criminal charges—appears to suggest otherwise.

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Via Blikk, Featured image: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain