Yep, you read the headiline right — from Reuters:
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A wealthy Russian tried to buy a U.S. B-52 bomber from a group of shocked American pilots at an air show near Moscow, a Russian newspaper reported on Friday.
The unidentified Russian, wearing sunglasses and surrounded by bodyguards, approached the U.S. delegation and asked to buy the bomber, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said.
An astounded member of the U.S. delegation said the bomber was not for sale but that it would cost at least $500 million (249.5 million pounds) if it were to be sold on the spot.
"That is no problem. It is such a cool machine," the Russian was quoted as saying by the newspaper, which said its reporter overheard the conversation. The bomber was not sold.
No word if he made a similar offer for the Bear H also displayed — must be that "foreign" mystique that kept him from buying domestic, or another jet snob… 
Stumble It!
Stumble it!
Considering that Russia now has `found`a way to acquire Stealth technology, my prayers are that no one EVER considers such a proposal…for all eternity. This isn`t said in jest, by the way. The way that all politicians are constantly looking for extra money, the obvious temptation exists to sell the technology. This is no slur on any politician from either of our countries, but we both know that even being said in jest means that Russia is nosing around to find a legal or illegal way (i.e. blackmail) to gain even an iota of the technology, let alone the actual -52.
The importance of the CIA being allowed to do their work to the maximum of their capabilities can`t be stressed enough, sir. Meaning no disrespect, but it is one opinion that tough times call for tough measures and tough people to make the tough decisions.
Veritas et Fidelis Semper
Heh, regarding the CIA (and the FBI, for that matter), an appropriate slogan might be “We have met the enemy, and they are us.”
As far as selling tech, I’d be more worried about the Chinese. It’s the basis of their entire industrial base, not just the military side of things…if you can’t invent it, buy/”acquire” it, reverse engineer it, and improve it.
This may be a sea story — just a few years back, a delegation from the very large country (famous for popularizing take-out dishes served in boxes) allegedly walked aboard the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, CA. One of the visitors was to have pulled out a check for USD$7M and offered to take the ship back to the mainland.
IIRC, the museum management asked the ship visitors to insert the check in a body orifice not commonly visited by chopsticks, and the appropriate naval officials were notified.
-SJBill
It may be a sea story, but that’s basically how they got the ex-Varyag from Russia…for use as a “floating casino.”
-SJS
SJS
I’m sure you have seen the following page: http://www.varyagworld.com/. Check out the Nimitz replica carrier in the link above! Talk about a novel theme park! LOL!
Purchasing the old Hornet is not that far fetched given the context of their recent purchases: 1985 the Aussies sold them the former Melbourne. China studied her for awhile and completely reverse engineered her (broke her apart while under great technical scrutiny). I’m pretty sure that was the plan with Hornet, as there were many design “surprises” even in the WW-II Essex cla** (e.g. armament that most other countries have not yet implemented). The elite Chinese “R&D” engineers also purchased the former Soviet Minsk in 1998 and the Kiev in 2000. Quite the fleet of decommissioned CVs for endless theme park possibilities.
-SJBill
They should have asked for a 10% down payment-then flown the bomber home!
. 50 Million would make a pretty good per diem payment.