Venezuelan Air Forces’ General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon. Photo: Chris Lofting/Wikipedia/File photo.
May 8, 2024 (OrinocoTribune.com)—In less than a week, Venezuelan F-16 fighter-jets disabled three narco-planes that entered Venezuelan airspace without identifying themselves and with their transponders turned off.
Venezuela had acquired a squadron of 18 F-16 A/B Fighting Falcon aircrafts from the US in 1983 when Luis Herrera Campins was the president of Venezuela. Since the early 2000s, after the electoral victory of President Hugo Chávez, the US government has blocked regular maintenance services and sales of parts.
Despite the US blockade, the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) has been able to keep the squadron operational, as demonstrated in several operations in recent years.
General Domingo Hernández Lárez, commander of the Strategic Operational Command of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (CEOFANB), announced on social media the disabling of three narco-jets between April 26 and May 1. In addition, he stated that the FANB has all the necessary technology to make Venezuela impregnable and capable to react immediately to any unauthorized entry of enemy aircraft.
🔁 RT || GJ. @dhernandezlarez: En el marco de la operación Escudo Bolivariano 2024, de acuerdo a los planes operacionales de seguridad y defensa nacionales, #FANB activa el plan general de defensa e inutiliza dos (02) aeronaves hostiles por haber ingresado al territorio nacional… pic.twitter.com/XImf37Ielz
— CEOFANB (@CEOFANBVE) May 2, 2024
According to the CEOFANB, on April 26, the first unauthorized flight was detected by radars of the 19th Western Air Defense Brigade of the Comprehensive Aerospace Defense Command (CODAI). This brigade followed the plane’s course until it disappeared in a remote area of the Catatumbo municipality of Zulia state. This prompted the deployment of two F-16 fighters from the El Libertador Air Base in Aragua state.
According to Hernández Lárez, once contact with the plane was lost, an exploration was carried out in the low-altitude region, and a twin-engine Cessna-type aircraft was discovered at the edge of a forest and a short distance from a improvised air-track. To disable it, shots from a 20mm M61 Vulcan Gatling cannon were used.
On Wednesday, May 1, the other two aircraft that entered Venezuelan airspace without authorization were destroyed on the ground with Vulcan automatic cannons. This took place in the Pedro Camejo municipality of Apure state. Both planes, which were Cessnas (a single-engine and a twin-engine), entered at different times and via different routes—in an attempt to deceive and mask their actions from the electronic media of the 29 Los Llanos Air Defense Brigade—according to reports.
Venezuelan Military Aviation has Disabled over 218 Narco-Jets
With the recent launch of an F-16 from the Dragones Air Hunting Group No. 16, the Fighting Falcons have become the most used aircraft by the Venezuelan air force in the war against drug trafficking. In the last year alone, five planes used by international criminal organizations have been destroyed.
The number of illegal narco-jets disabled by the FANB has been reduced significantly after the departure of Ivan Duque as President of Colombia. During Duque’s tenure, the volume of drug exports from Colombia to the US grew significantly, according to the UN. In 2022, Ivan Duque’s last year in office, Venezuela neutralized 42 narco-jets.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/MCM/SL
