Venezuela To Sell Their F-16s To Iran And Buy SU-35s

Venezuela plans to sell it's F-16 fighters to Iran and have them replaced with Russian SU-35 fighters. The Flanker is a cool plane though...


SU-27M shooting flares at an airshow in Moscow, August 2004


Venezuela is approved to sell these planes to a third country according to the agreement with the US. Selling them to Iran is probably just a poke in the eye.

Related Links:
SUKHOI Su-35 (Su-27M) Flanker
Ats: Venezuela To Stage Mass War Games
Atsnn: Mass War Games To Be Staged In Venezuela

Way to go Venezuela !!!
Nothing like putting your head above the parapit and inviting someone to shoot it off.

Hey Helmutt,

You sure about the approval to resell in the agreement? I read a news source today which said that the US was required to approve any resale of military hardware like those f-16's...which the US is unlikely to do.

www.cnn.com...

Which wouldn't necessarily stop Chavez from doing it anyway...

The article also said that the US had stopped supplying parts and upgrades for the aircraft, and that Chavez will probably use that as an argument to claim the US breached the original agreement.

I wonder if the US would use the claim of breach of agreement as a reason to attack, militarily, any effort by Venezuela to actually transfer the craft to Iran?

I gotta' agree with ya...that Su-35 is waycool...



[edit on 5/17/2006 by apocalypticon]

[edit on 5/17/2006 by apocalypticon again, for spelling]

[edit on 5/17/2006 by apocalypticon]

i say "go ahead punk" make my day....to chavez because those planes are probably stripped down models anyway, without all the bells and whistles that our planes have ......also good luck getting parts for them, their having a tough time keeping a c-130 flying which should be a simpler task...but without parts it's still causing alot of problems ....i can imagine what will happen to those higher tech planes in the hands of the iranians

The F-16s are Block-15s. They posses no Night, IFR, and ECM capabilities.
They are loaded with a downgraded APG-66 radar,thus can not effectively fight in BVR.

Chavez was on the UK's Channel 4 news show last night saying he might simply give them back to the US and have done with them.

It's an interesting little interview if you're interested -
www.channel4.com...

You'll also find that a short while ago people were winding themselves up into synthetic outrage over claims that he was supposedly going to just 'give' them to Castro etc etc.
I guess Iran is slightly more topical and a bigger bogey at the mo.

As for this handful of Sukhoi's?
Is this not like the Mig 29 story, to be rehashed and brought up again and again with an actual delivery nowhere in sight?

Why would Iran even want them? Combat aircraft --- even when being used in non-combat environments --- are in constant need of replacement parts. And it is beyond unlikely that the US or any of its allies are going to supply those parts. So what Iran ends up with are some very expensive (although thoroughly cool) collectors items. Which is probably the reason Chavez is trying to unload them in the first place.

Posturing and nothing more.

Chavez who is rapidly becoming the Kim Jong "I be illing" Ill of South America made a similar threat last yer to sell them to China.

1) They are old a/c.
2) Let say iran does get them. Where are they going to get parts for them? The F-14's in Iranian inventory are by and large gutted and only a fw fly. Now no doubt Iran could over time use its industrial base (it has put forth efforts in this area) and make spares for the craft, but why go to the time and expence for a few a/c that would be a maintnence nightmare?????

Actually those planes are of no use to any enemy of the US. Chavez might as well return them to the US and buy the SU-35. I don't think Iran wants more problems that they already have. It wouldn't look too good for them to buy fighter planes right now...

Sorry folks but this thread already exists here on ATS and can be found here

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Please post your thoughts and comments in the exisiting thread as this one is to be closed