Two Russian Su-30 fighter jets arrive in Venezuela

interfax ^ | 7/3/06 | Interfax-AVN

[Flavius]

06:42 GMT, Jul 03, 2006 Latest Headlines...

Two Russian Su-30 fighter jets arrive in Venezuela

MOSCOW/CARACAS. July 3 (Interfax-AVN) - Two Russian Su-30 fighter jets have landed in Caracas to join a military parade to mark the anniversary of Venezuela's independence from Spain on July 5, an official with the Russian defense and industrial complex told Interfax- AVN. "It has yet to be decided whether the planes will remain in that country until a contract is signed for the sale of 24 Su-30 fighter jets to Venezuela, or they will return home after the celebrations," the official said.

sd md

[COEXERJ145]

Raptor food.

[Jet Jaguar]

One landed a little sooner than the other.

[Flavius]

Two Russian Su-30 Jets Arrive in Venezuela


Two Russian-made Su-30 jets arrived in Venezuela on Sunday and Caracas plans to purchase 24 of the fighter jets from Moscow this year, the military announced, Xinhua news agency reports.

The two Russian fighter jets would make their first public appearance during a military parade set for Wednesday to mark Venezuela’s independence from the Spanish colonial rule, according to the announcement.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said that his country will officially ink the deal for the Russian fighter jets when he visits Moscow on July 25.

“We will soon be in Moscow, because we will buy Russian fighter planes to defend our sky and land,” said Chavez on a television show in May.

He described Sukhoi Su-30s as “100 times better than the F-16s that Venezuela bought from the United States.”

Chavez has also vowed to sell Venezuela’s F-16 fighter planes, if the United States refuses to provide spare parts to his country. Alberto Muller Rojas, the presidential advisor, has indicated that Venezuela is considering selling the planes to Iran if Venezuela does not receive spare parts from Washington.

Chavez unveiled the plan to purchase Russian-made fighter jets and sell the F-16s after the United States announced a ban on military sales to Venezuela. Sean McCormack, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, has warned that the sale of the F-16s to Iran, or anyone else, “is not permitted.

[Flavius]

i keep forgeting those things are out there

[Nachum]

Now all they have to do is learn how to fly them... :)

[BIGZ]

I agree. Who will drive them?

[Army Air Corps]

Chavez Shenanigans pings

[spanalot]

is that the new subteranean fighter?

[mad_as_he$$]

yea well an F-22 can swat down the Su-30's with out even breaking a sweat. No new news Chavez is nuts!

[GW and Twins Pawpaw]

I wonder if they have them hangared in 'hardened' hangars?:-)

[dinok]

I'm not worried. The first pilots to figure out they can fly to the US non-stop will take care of the problem.

Maybe we need to mark the route with tortilla chips.

[LasVegasMac]

way cool pic, old but very good. Looks like it's something anyone (that likes jets) might want to decorate the front lawn with.

You do know the pilot survived, right?

There is close, then there is waiting to eject like this guy did.

[akorahil]

yea well an F-22 can swat down the Su-30's with out even breaking a sweat. No new news Chavez is nuts!

No need to break out the big guns, when some of our older planes will whup up on it.

The aircraft is in direct competition with USA's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F-15E Strike Eagle and Europe's Eurofighter Typhoon.

[Jet Jaguar]

I just googled it and it was the one that grabbed my attention.


Glad he made it out though.

[roaddog727]

“100 times better than the F-16s that Venezuela bought from the United States.”

Dear Hugo the blowhard:

Not a problem. We only sell that model you bought to 3rd worlders anyway.

But just remember, sophisticated aircraft require good maintenance to get off the ground and highly trained pilots to fly them.

You have neither - and, you couldn't maintain the F16s we sold you.

Your SU30s will be Hangar queens before you know it.

F'n Gas Bag.

[ChadGore]

[xrp]

Err, that's an Su-35

[stboz]

What say we fly a coupe of Raptors down there and join the parade? Now that would be a gas.

[mad_as_he$$]

True. Why waste the good stuff on a third rate gas bag. Even more fun have OUR F-16's dust their Su-30's

[fish hawk]

Got insurance?

[Erasmus]

The technical term is, I believe,

"Uncontrolled departure from airspace."

< }B^)

[Non-Sequitur]

Alberto Muller Rojas, the presidential advisor, has indicated that Venezuela is considering selling the planes to Iran if Venezuela does not receive spare parts from Washington.

Let's see, the Venezuelan F-16s don't work because the U.S. cut off spare parts. The solution is to sell them to another country without a chance of getting any spare parts either. Just how stupid does Rojas think the Iranians are?

[akorahil]

Well, I am perhaps a neophyte airpower afficonadio, but I do wonder where they will find trained pilots to fly their SU-30s.

If they just grab some 'crack pilots' from their air force, methinks a few jet jocks in F4 Phantoms will school them...

[corkoman]

Where did these fighters fly in from???? In flight refueling over the atlantic - musta had to do it twice - not a long range aircraft.

[Army Air Corps]

"The solution is to sell them to another country without a chance of getting any spare parts either. Just how stupid does Rojas think the Iranians are?"

Well, if he has been listening to Ahmedinejhad's speeches, then he may think that they are two steps below Sean Penn.

[Gumption]

They will replace the F - 14's that Iran doesn't have parts for.

BTW, why can't these back assward countries fabricate these parts for themselves? I mean, they don't have to design them just duplicate them. Am I missing something?

[TaMoDee]

I think that was at the Paris Air Show a couple of years ago.

[akorahil]

Well the news agency is Interfax, and the dateline is Caracas/Moscow.

I would say our old friend Pooty Putin sold them.

I might be wrong. however.

[John Lenin]

Aircraft	Odds vs. Su-35
Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor	10.1:1
Eurofighter Typhoon	4.5:1
Sukhoi Su-35 'Flanker'	1.0:1
Dassault Rafale C	1.0:1
J-10	1.0:1
McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle	0.8:1
Boeing F/A-18+	0.4:1
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C	0.3:1
General Dynamics F-16C	0.3:1

[John Lenin]

---

These results mean, for example, that in simulated combat, 4.5 Su-35s were shot down for every Typhoon lost. Missiles such as the KS-172 may be intended for large targets and not fighters, but their impact on a long range BVR engagement needs to be factored in.

[Conservative4Ever]

BTW, why can't these back assward countries fabricate these parts for themselves? I mean, they don't have to design them just duplicate them. Am I missing something

Shhhhhhhhhh! You don't want the NYT to read this and then tell the bad guys, do ya???? :)

[rellimpank]

--amongst my momentos of six months in Venezuela twenty-five years ago is a snapshot of a government (Dep't of Mines and Hydrocarbons) helicopter--with a window replaced with cardboard, held in place with duct tape--

--somehow I doubt the Russki jets would get any better maintenance--

[mgstarr]

So what?? If they want to buy/borrow/steal them I have no issues.

Two (or twenty-four) Su-30's does not a credible air force make against ours. I recall the fear in the 80's about the F-14's the Iranians had.

Plane's no good without the pilots to fly them....

[bmwcyle]

Just a snack.

[chmst]

Simple parts can be fabricated, most parts that break are not simple. It quickly become much cheaper to buy new aircraft from France, Russia, or China. I remember the case of a Mitsubishi robot that the Soviets tried to reverse engineer back in the eighties, they took four years (I think) to get a copy that still didn't work right. Mitsubishi was asked if they were going to raise a fuss, they said no, what was the point when the robot was hopelessly obsolete. I knew the USSR was doomed at that point because it was clear they could not steal technology fast enough. Iran is even worse off because they do not even have the USSR's crappy tech base.

[Leo Carpathian]

helicopter--with a window replaced with cardboard, held in place with duct tape--

Amiiigo, yu don anderstaaaan, they made it into 21 century - they got duck taaaape! Do not underesimate dem!

[LasVegasMac]

I'm thinking you are right, but more than a couple years ago. I was still in the USAF when I saw this film. And I've been retired for 11 years.

[conservativecorner]

My thought exactly BUMP!

[CWOJackson]

Those statistic would factor pilots of similar abilities...which is far from the case.

[Figment]

"Alberto Muller Rojas, the presidential advisor, has indicated that Venezuela is considering selling the planes to Iran if Venezuela does not receive spare parts from Washington"


That's hilarious. What would Iran do with them? Put them next to all the F14's they couldn't get spare parts for?

[mad_as_he$$]

Or maybe Russian Mercs. They don't make squat for money at home. How about Cubans - do the Ruskies still train them?

[mad_as_he$$]

AC is won with equipment first and tactics second. I don't believe this chart. F-15c's can wax just about anything in the air except F-22's. Not on paper but in real combat. I think the score is 130 to 0.

[John Lenin]

I know nothing about this subject and after reading quite a few military forums on the subject there seems to be a wide range of opinion on which fighters are the best. But they all agree the F-22 will be the leader when it comes online.

[Thunder90]

Putin playing with fire again...

Or is it that Putin is a Communist???

[Thunder90]

Ping

[MARKUSPRIME]

Target practice! I wonder if any russian pilots will fly missions for them. We need to stay vigilant.

[GSlob]

The pilots defec[a]ted.

[strategofr]

"Two Russian Su-30 fighter jets have landed in Caracas to join a military parade to mark the anniversary of Venezuela's independence from Spain on July 5."

This may be the most cleverly ironic statement I've ever seen. Celebrate independence from Spain by demonstrating servitude to Russia.