The arms race in South America continues. The F-35, F-16, F-15, Super Hornet or even the EuroFighter should be big sellers now...especially if Venezuela actually buys the SU-35.
Check this out.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday he is interested in buying Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E multirole fighter jets from Russia to enhance his country’s defense capabilities.
“I have already sent a statement to the government of Russia that we
are ready to consider buying in the next few years Su-35 fighters to
modernize and enhance our defense powers,” Venezuela’s national radio
quoted Chavez as saying.
The president said that the issues of security, defense and the
development of the country should be the priority for the government of
Venezuela within the frames of the national independence provision.
“This independence, the well protected and guaranteed one, will give
us a possibility to build new Venezuela, new Fatherland and to reach new
horizons,” he added.
The Su-35, powered by two 117S engines with thrust vectoring,
combines high maneuverability and the capability to effectively engage
several air targets simultaneously using both guided and unguided
missiles and weapon systems.
The aircraft has been touted as "4++ generation using fifth-generation technology."
Mark my words. A little economic shock, mixed with rising fuel prices, a dash of social unrest and you could see S. America in flames.
Time to offer Brazil the F-35 me thinks?
ReplyDeleteOur governance (Im brazilian) don't give the real importance to defense. F 35 in Brazil ? It never will happens.
DeleteWe are in a program to buy 35 4G fighters a 15 years !!!
hey unknown. i'm really worried about what i see happening with the drug war ahead of the olympics. is it as bad as it looks or am i misreading things? why only 35 fighters?
DeleteOur realy problem with the olympics are the works... We have too much corruption in our government. All of works are late and overpriced.
DeleteThe drug war in Rio de Janeiro still a threat... but it's smaller than you think...
It's localizated in ghetos where our police is taking the control.
so its about the same as what we have in the US...corruption included.
DeleteAbout the fighters...
DeleteIn a recent past, we suffer with a military dictadure. At 60's...70'.
And now, the politicians at power are the opposition of the time of the dicature! Imagine how they think about the armys...
And we have a history of peace... without problems with our neighbours...
32 is the number of the initial fase... the complete number is around 120 units. Too low to a country like Brazil.
i think you're right but i see bad stuff happening in brazil soon. they're fighting a drug war down there and they're using Army troops and Marines to do it and are still out gunned when fighting in the ghettos.
ReplyDeletei'm looking for some dramatic civil unrest there.
Dude... this realy dont happens. I'm a brazilian from Rio de Janeiro.
DeleteRead about "UPPS", in portuguese is "unidade de policia pacificadora" or "police peacekeeping unit".
It's a project where they install large units of a special unity of our police in our ghettos. To ensure the begin of these operation, the police ask help to armed forces and they helps with APC's. But the soldies inside of this armors, are polices.
We still have problems with gangs and drugs... but it's a normal, talking about big cities...
Our situation is improving enough, contrary to what you're thinking and writing.
The drug war is in the borders with Bolivia... Colombia... Venezuela...
not the first time i was wrong and won't be the last. thanks.
DeleteEither that or start keeping a carrier with F-35Cs in the Caribbean Sea on a semi-permanent basis.
ReplyDeleteI would be looking to bolster Colombia, with a modern ada system and modernize their air. That's where I see the fight happening with Venezuela
ReplyDeletei could see that if Columbia didn't have the internal problems that it has. the FARC isn't dead yet and we have yet to see them eradicated ... they're still a threat and international terrorism means that they might tie up with some radicals from the Middle East or Asia....
ReplyDeleteits too easy for Venezula to simply undermine them by supporting terrorism. i just don't know. YOU COULD BE RIGHT i just don't know.
Sol great find and, as a long time reader of your blog, I thought it was about time for me to finally comment something. If this does turn out to be true, this could cause a bit of a problem for us back here in the UK. A few days ago Premier Oil just signed a $1bn deal with one of the oil exploration companies in the Falkland’s, which could see the first barrels of commercial oil flowing in 2017.
ReplyDeleteNow as it stands, although I think we could bolster the FI defences slightly, the current set up of a Type 45 and 4 Eurofighters is enough to keep the Argentine Air Force away. However if there ever is a Falkland’s 2: The Rematch, Chavez has already stated that Venezuela will militarily support Argentina in a conflict with Great Britain. So Eurofighters versus upgraded Skyhawks, not much of a problem but Flanker E’s are, like you say, a whole new ball game.
Hopefully this won’t materialise however if it does, and we don’t prepare accordingly we (UK and/or Venezuela’s neighbours) may well hear Brigadier Thomas Brodie’s immortal words from the Korean War, “A bit sticky, things are pretty sticky down there”, again.
Dont forget that argentina is also building ties whith china...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVenezuela already operates 24 Su-30's and I believe there was an option for more. This is probably just the 2nd batch. It would be very interesting to know how many hours the jets and pilots they already have actually fly?
ReplyDeleteUnknown
ReplyDeleteRequiring police to drive around in APCs is not "normal" by any stretch.
Lane
Indeed, Bonkers third world nations frequently have expensive tanks and fighters, and no one able to operate them.