With the Trump administration’s counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean expanding to become a “non-international armed conflict,” the prospects of some kind of confrontation between the U.S. military and Venezuela are rising, too. On top of the counter-narcotics effort, some officials in the Trump administration are pushing to oust Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro.
With the possibility of direct actions inland on cartels — now designated as unlawful combatants — becoming a real possibility, it’s worth taking a look at the air defense assets available to Venezuela, which comprise a somewhat unusual mix of older, lower-end equipment and smaller numbers of very capable systems, mainly Russian-supplied.
Yesterday, we reported on the first official imagery of the 10 U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs forward-deployed to the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico. These jets are now undertaking patrols in the region, with open-source flight trackers pointing to sorties off the coast of Venezuela.
Venezuela’s Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, has claimed that the country’s armed forces had tracked F-35s flying off the coast in the Maiquetía Flight Information Region (FIR). Today, we have also begun to see imagery indicating that Venezuelan mobile surface-to-air missile systems are being redeployed, perhaps in response to U.S. military activities.
Venezuela’s Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, has claimed that the country’s armed forces had tracked F-35s flying off the coast in the Maiquetía Flight Information Region (FIR). Today, we have also begun to see imagery indicating that Venezuelan mobile surface-to-air missile systems are being redeployed, perhaps in response to U.S. military activities.
At the same time, as we originally highlighted, the F-35s can also use their powerful sensor suite for surveillance and reconnaissance, meaning they can also operate as critical assets in a non-kinetic capacity.
Nevertheless, comments from Venezuelan officials suggest that they, too, are planning for a possible U.S. attack on the country, with Maduro saying that he is gearing up to call a state of emergency should that happen.
At the sharp end of the Venezuelan military’s capabilities to disrupt or degrade any U.S. air operations directed against the country are its air defense systems. These include ground-based systems that are operated by the Venezuelan Army (Ejército Bolivariano, EB, or Bolivarian Army of Venezuela), as well as fighter jets flown by the Venezuelan Air Force (Aviación Militar Bolivariana Venezolana, AMBV, or Bolivarian Venezuelan Military Aviation). Certain air-defense-capable warships also serve with the Venezuelan Navy (Armada Bolivariana de Venezuela, or Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela).
Venezuelan Air Force
In terms of the AMBV, the mainstay of its fighter force is provided by 21 Su-30MK2V Flanker fighters, 24 of which were delivered between 2006 and 2008. These can be armed with beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, but they are multirole types, also able to carry a variety of precision-guided air-to-ground ordnance, including Kh-31A (AS-17 Krypton) supersonic anti-ship missiles.
Air-to-air armament for the Su-30s includes the R-77 beyond-visual-range missile known to NATO as the AA-12 Adder. With a reported maximum range of 50 miles, the R-77 is typically launched under inertial guidance, with midcourse updates provided by datalink, before using its active radar seeker for the terminal phase. Reportedly, the R-77 can switch to a home-on-jam mode if it encounters heavy electronic countermeasures, engaging the source of the jamming.
The maximum range of the R-27R is reportedly 37 miles, and 31 miles for the R-27T. The extended-range versions are able to hit targets at a maximum range of 59 miles (R-27ER) or 56 miles (R-27ET).
Close-range missile armament for the Su-30 is provided by the R-73, known in the West as the AA-11 Archer. It has an all-aspect infrared seeker, high off-boresight capability, thrust-vectoring controls, and can be cued by the pilot’s helmet-mounted sight. It has a maximum range of around 18.6 miles against a head-on target, or 8.7 miles in a tail-on engagement.
Nowadays far less important within the AMBV inventory is the F-16A/B, once the pride of the air force.
