Argentinean Air Force

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Venezuelan Air Force

The Air Force of Venezuela, since 2006: 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.

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.

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.

Currently Venezuela is in talks with Russia to purchase in the future Su-35 fighter aircraft.

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

! 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 ! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Notes |- | Su-30MK2|| || multirole strike fighter || || 24 ||All planes delivered |- | Lockheed F-16 Fighting Falcon || || fighter || || 21 (10) || only ten remain operational |- | CF-5 || || fighter || || 18 || |- | Dassault Mirage 50 || || fighter || || 5 || To be retired |- | OV-10 Bronco || || light attack
observation || || 7 || |- | Airbus A319 || || transport || || 1 || |- | Beechcraft Super King Air || || transport|| || 5 || |- | Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner || ||transport || || 2 || |- | Boeing 707 || || transport || || 7 || |- |Boeing 737 || || transport || || 1 || |- |Cessna Citation 500/550 || || transport || || 5 || |- |Dassault Falcon 20 || || VIP || || 2 || |- |Dassault Falcon 50 || || VIP || || 2 || |- |C-130 Hercules || || transport || || 4 || |- |Cessna Citation X || || VIP || || 1 || |- |Cessna 182 || || basic trainer || || 12 || |- |Hongdu JL-8 || || trainer || || 0 || 24 on order |- |Embraer EMB 312 Tucano || || trainer || || 32 || |- |Aermacchi SF.260 || || trainer
light attack || || 12 || |- |Eurocopter Super Puma || || transport helicopter || || 8 || |- |Eurocopter Cougar || || transport helicopter || || 4 || |- |Mil Mi-28 || || attack helicopter || || 0 || 4 on order |}