Sure, the Pentagon will always be famous for wasting $640 on a toilet seat, but that doesn't mean it isn't looking to make a buck! Next week the Defense Department will sell off 27 million pounds of old warplanes--some going back before Vietnam--to profit from current scrap metal prices.
The online auction is expected to bring in $9 million to $10 million. With that the Air Force can maybe buy a single wing for an F-35!
The metal (aluminum, steel, magnesium and titanium) is coming from old aircraft like C-141 Starlifters, A-4 Skyhawks, S-3 Vikings (I remember hearing those fly over Coronado when my husband was stationed at North Island...), and even T-34 trainers that are 60 years old!
But for national security reasons, the Pentagon is mandating that all buyers cut up the metal into 4x4-inch pieces before reselling it. As one analyst tells Reuters, "The Chinese have been humongous buyers of aluminum and copper scrap."
To participate in the auction, you have to put down a $50,000 deposit.
