Venezuelan Air Force
| Venezuelan Air Force Aviación Militar Venezolana | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1946 - |
| Country | Venezuela |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | Mirage III, OV-10, |
| Fighter | Su-30, F-16, VF-5 |
| Trainer | C182, SF-260, EMB-312 |
| Transport | C-130, G.222, |
The Air Force of Venezuela, since 2006: Template:Es icon Aviación Militar Venezolana (previously Fuerza Aérea Venezolana, FAV) is a professional armed body designed to defend Venezuela's sovereignty and airspace. It is a component in the Venezuelan armed forces.
History
The birth of the FAV goes back to December 10, 1920 when the Military Aviation school of Venezuela was formed. Early aircraft included Farman and Caudron G-3 as well as the amphibian Caudron G-4. The first decades of the FAV saw mainly French, German and Italian influence. After the Second World War, the Air force was reorganised with American aid, eventually leading to the formal inception of the Fuerza Aérea Venezolana, as it is known today, on June 22, 1946.
Most current airbases were built in the 1960s. The main fighter types in those years were Venom, Vampire, and F-86. Bomber squadrons typically operated B-25 Mitchell aircraft. The 70s and 80s saw a considerable increase in capacity, mainly because the rising oil prices enabled the FAV to re-equip most of its units. The mixture of various aircraft types was maintained and Mirage IIIE and V, VF-5A and D, T-2D, OV-10A and E, T-27 were introduced. Venezuela was one of the first export customers for the F-16 which arrived in 1983 to equip the newly formed Grupo Aéreo de Caza 16 at El Libertador Airbase. [1][2]
In 2006, Venezuelan F-16s, F-5s and Mirages participated in the joint exercise Cruzex III held in Brazil along with the air forces of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Peru and Uruguay. [3]
Modernization
The Venezuelan military will purchase at least four Mil Mi-28 in the future. They will be operational by 2009.Also reported that the FAV will purchase at least two IL-76.
FAV purchased 24 Sukhoi Su-30 planes from Russia on July 2005, in response to the spare parts embargo of F-16 planes declared by the United States. Twenty of these aircraft are commissioned while 4 others are scheduled to be delivered in 2008.[4]
Currently Venezuela is in talks with Russia to purchase in the future Su-35 fighter aircraft.[5]
Organization
The Air Force is organized into four fighter groups, one for each aircraft type in use:
- Group 4 with A-319CJ & B-737-200
- Group 5 with Beechcraft SK200 and cessna 500
- Group 6 with C-130 & B-707-300
- Group 10 with helicopters Superpuma
- Group 11 with Mirage 50 planes
- Group 12 with F-5 planes
- Group 13 with Su-30MK2 24 planes
- Group 15 with OV-10 Broncos
- Group 16 with F-16 planes
Aircraft in use
Template:Standard table
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Aircraft
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Origin
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Type
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Versions
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|In service[6]
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Notes
|-
| Su-30MK2|| 
Russia || multirole strike fighter || || 24 ||All planes delivered[7]
|-
| Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon || 
United States || fighter || || 21 (10) || only ten remain operational
|-
| CF-5 || 
Canada || fighter || || 18 ||
|-
| Dassault Mirage 50 || 
France || fighter || || 5 || To be retired
|-
| OV-10 Bronco || United States || light attack
observation || || 7 ||
|-
| Airbus A319 || 
European Union || transport || || 1 ||
|-
| Beechcraft Super King Air || United States || transport|| || 5 ||
|-
| Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner || United States ||transport || || 2 ||
|-
| Boeing 707 || United States || transport || || 7 ||
|-
|Boeing 737 || United States || transport || || 1 ||
|-
|Cessna Citation 500/550 || United States || transport || || 5 ||
|-
|Dassault Falcon 20 || France || VIP || || 2 ||
|-
|Dassault Falcon 50 || France || VIP || || 2 ||
|-
|C-130 Hercules || United States || transport || || 4 ||
|-
|Cessna Citation X || United States || VIP || || 1 ||
|-
|Cessna 182 || United States || basic trainer || || 12 ||
|-
|Hongdu JL-8 || 
China || trainer || || 0 || 24 on order
|-
|Embraer EMB 312 Tucano || 
Brazil || trainer || || 32 ||
|-
|Aermacchi SF.260 || 
Italy || trainer
light attack || || 12 ||
|-
|Eurocopter Super Puma || European Union || transport helicopter || || 8 ||
|-
|Eurocopter Cougar || European Union || transport helicopter || || 4 ||
|-
|Mil Mi-28 || Russia || attack helicopter || || 0 || 4 on order
|}
References
- "World Air Forces". Venezuela Air Force. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
- ^ "F-16s for Venezuela".
- ^ "Venezuelan F-16s".
- ^ Fuerza Aérea Venezolana participó en ejercicio multinacional Cruzex 2006
- ^ Russia to promote Sukhoi-35 airplanes in South America
- ^ http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13081489&PageNum=0
- ^ "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 15 2007.
- ^ http://top.rbc.ru/politics/04/08/2008/213613.shtml