Shipbucket

Fuerza Aérea Venezolana- A330MRTT



The Airbus A330MRTT was an important part of the Venezuelan air force expansion plan, they were required to support the growing combat aircraft fleet which included the RAFALE, Su-30 and Su-35. The airplanes were purchased in parallel with a large batch of A330's for Viasa with maintenance provided by the airline.

Fuerza Aérea Venezolana - Rafale B



The Venezuelan air force projected a requirement for 96 medium multi role combat aircraft to replace the F-16A, VF-5A and the Mirage 50EV, types which had been in frontline service for more than thirty and were having serious maintanance problems and were completely outdated by 2015. For the contest six fighter aircraft were considered: Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, Mikoyan MiG-35, and Saab JAS 39 Gripen. After an extensive and time consuming evaluation process the Dassault Rafale was chosen in October 2015 as the new fighter, mainly because of its superiority over the other contenders and do to Dassaults willingness to allow Venezuela to produce the aircraft under license and give a full technology transfer. the first batch of 24 aircraft (18 single seaters & 6 two seaters) was to be procured directly from Dassault and delivered ahead of schedule to start training and familiarisation as soon as possible the rest would be manufactured by VAI in Venezuela.
Due to Venezuelas increasing importance in the region and the growing threat of the chinese backed countries like Cuba, Bolivia & Nicaragua the Venezuelan government decided to expand the armed forces together with other countries in the region such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia in order to answer the threat that the large amount of chinese weapons supplied to this countries posed but also to defend themselves from leftist groups backed by this countries.
Because of this expansion the initial order for 96 Rafale's was gradually increased until it eventualy reached 240 aircraft making it the largest military contract in the countries history. Another important part of the expansion was the development of the carrier task force and it was decided that to reduce cost the Naval aviation would use the Rafale M, the first order for 42 aircraft was placed along with the air force order and as the aircraft carriers entered service more aicraft were ordered eventually reaching a total of 120 aircraft. Combined the air force and navy fleets have 360 Rafale's making Venezuela the largest Rafale operator.

Fuerza Aérea Venezolana - Embraer EMB314 Super Tucano

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kike-92

VAI - OA-4A Martillo (Hammer)



General characteristics:

Crew: Two: pilot, observer
Length: 13.78 m
Wingspan: 48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)
Wing area: 360 ft² (33.45 m²)
Empty weight: 12,054 lb (5,467 kg)
Loaded weight: 15,544 lb (7,051 kg) (Normal take-off weight, IR mission)
Max. takeoff weight: 18,109 lb (8,214 kg) (SLAR mission)
Powerplant: 2 × Hartzell 5-blade constant speed, fully feathering, reversible-pitch × Pratt & Whitney
Canada PT6A-68C turboprop, 1,196 kW (1,600 shp) each

Performance:

Never exceed speed: 450 mph (390 knots, 724 km/h)
Maximum speed: 305 mph (265 knots, 491 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m) (IR mission)
Cruise speed: 207 mph (180 knots, 334 km/h) (econ cruise)
Stall speed: 84 mph (73 knots, 135 km/h)
Range: 2311,5 mi (2008,64 nmi, 3,720 km) (SLAR mission)
Service ceiling: 26,000 ft (7,924 m)
Rate of climb: 3,450 ft/min (17.5 m/s)

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kike-92

Very nice!

Fuerza Aérea Venezolana - Su-35SKV Flanker-E

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kike-92

Falcón Class Patrol Boat

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kike-92

Good work Kike92! I wonder, if I've seen the latest one earlier; somewhere? It's a good looking vessel for sure

Thanks for the comment Sebu, glad you like it.

Autana Class Offshore Patrol Vessel

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kike-92

Ejército de Venezuela - T-1A Jaguar



The T-1A Jaguar is an advanced third generation main battle tank, designed and developed by Venezuelan military
industries and CAVIM for the Venezuelan Army and export markets. National Tank Production Project, an initiative
developed to establish independent and robust infrastructure for the production, development and maintenance of
main battle tanks used by Venezuelan Armed Forces. The project was initiated with an agreement signed between
VMI/CAVIM consortium and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Venezuela on 30 April 2016, when the Defense
Industries Executive Committee awarded a contract worth approximately $500 million to the VMI/CAVIM consortium for
the design, development and production of 4 prototypes of a national main battle tank.

In order to improve the current technical capabilities of the Venezuelan defense industries and increase the amount
of domestic contribution towards national defense, the Ministry of defence decided that a "National Tank" will serve
as an excellent catalyst for uniting certain Venezuelan defense companies around a common goal and for providing the
Venezuelan military with extra firepower in the form of a modern tank.

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kike-92

An excellent series of additions, the Mertillo looks very nice and looks a very suitable COIN type.

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Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft

Fuerza Aérea Venezolana - M346 Master

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kike-92