How many dogs do you have to kill before Russia gives you a fighter jet? 2,368.42105 is the going rate, apparently.
Researchers at the Academy of Military Sciences have revealed that one of the conditions attached to China's post-Soviet acquisition of 76 Su-27 twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft from Russia was that Beijing sweeten the deal by throwing in 10,000 dog skin coats.
Authorities in Henan and Shandong thus went about dutifully slaughtering 180,000 canines to fill the order — according to military sources, "killing all the dogs across three provinces."
The Russian economy was in dire straits at the time and the coats were requested along with flashlights and thermoses to help Russians pull through wintertime power cuts.
In the words of military academic Du Wenlong, "China's dogs made a great contribution to the modernization of the nation's air force."
Delivery of the aircraft begin in February 1991 and concluded by September 2009.
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