Bolivarian Military Aviation of Venezuela (), is a professional armed body designed to defend Venezuela's sovereignty and airspace. It is a service component of the

National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela The Bolivarian National Armed Forces ( - FANB) of Venezuela are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President of Venezuela, President) and the Ministry of Defense (Venezuela), Minister of Defense. In addition to the Venezuelan Army, army, ...

Etymology

The organization is also known as the Bolivarian National Air Force of Venezuela. Its current official name has been in use since the end of 2008. It was previously called the Venezuelan Air Force (FAV; ).

History

Localizacion de bases aereas venezolanas

Most of the airbases in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

were built in the 1960s as part of a massive expansion program. The main fighter types in those years were

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

, and

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

. Bomber squadrons typically operated

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

aircraft. The 1970s and 1980s 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 the Mirage IIIE and Mirage 5, VF-5A and D, T-2D, OV-10A and E, and

T-27 The T-27 was a tankette produced in the 1930s by the Soviet Union. It was based on the design of the Carden Loyd tankette, bought under license from the United Kingdom in 1930. Design The Soviets were not fully satisfied with the Carden Loyd des ...

were introduced. Venezuela was one of the first export customers for the

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...

, which arrived in 1983 for the newly formed Grupo Aéreo de Caza 16 at El Libertador Airbase. In the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts, elements of the Venezuelan Air Force were key participants in the rebellion. FAV units at El Libertador Air Base under the command of Brigadier General Visconti seized control of the airbase and then launched an attack on the capital. OV-10s, T-27s, and Mirage III fighters under Visconti's command bombarded targets in the capital and loyalist air bases, destroying five CF-5 fighters on the ground. Two loyalist pilots escaped with F-16 fighters and shot down two OV-10s and a Tucano, claiming air superiority for the government. Two more rebel OV-10s were lost to ground fire. As the tables turned on the coup attempt, General Visconti and his allies fled in two

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

s, two Mirages, an OV-10, and several SA 330 helicopters.

Modernization

The AMV purchased 24 Sukhoi Su-30 planes from Russia in July 2006, as a result of the United States embargo on spare parts for their F-16 force. In 2008, Venezuela was reported for a potential acquisition of a number of

Su-35 The Sukhoi Su-35 (-35; NATO reporting name: Flanker-E/M, occasionally nicknamed "Super Flanker") is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twin-engine, supermaneuverable, 4.5 ge ...

fighter aircraft and a second batch 12–24 Sukhoi Su-30 from Russia. The acquisition did not succeed. In 2010, the Venezuelan Air Force retired their aging F-5 fleet, the

Hongdu JL-8 The Hongdu JL-8 (Nanchang JL-8), also known as the Karakorum-8 or K-8 for short, is a two-seat intermediate jet trainer and light attack aircraft designed by China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. ...

taking its place after being received earlier that year. In October 2015, Venezuela announced a plan to purchase 12 more Su-30MK2 from Russia for $480 million.

Inventory

Ranks

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

Other ranks

The rank insignia of Venezuelan

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s and

enlisted personnel An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States ...

Accidents

* On 3 September 1976, a Lockheed C-130H owned and operated by the Venezuelan Air Force crashed near Lajes Airbase,

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

, Portugal, killing all 68 occupants onboard.

References

Bibliography

* Hagedorn, Dan. "Latin Mitchells: North American B-25s in South America, Part Three". '' Air Enthusiast'' No. 107, September/October 2003. pp. 36–41.

External links

*
Sitio oficial de la Aviación Militar de VenezuelaU.S. Arms Sales to Venezuela
from th
Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
{{Authority control Military of Venezuela Air forces by country Aviation in Venezuela Military units and formations established in 1946