Posted on 02/09/2006 2:43:25 PM PST by Stellar Dendrite
Venezuela has become an important customer of Russian weapons, a senior government official said when announcing a record sale of armament in 2005, AP reported.
Mikhail Dmitriyev, the head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, advised that Russia could sell MiG strike aircraft to Venezuela.
Queried about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' remarks on the possibility of buying MiG's, Dmitriyev answered that no concrete deal has been made. However, "if Venezuela desires to procure MiG's, we are ready to cooperate," he noted.
According to the official, Russia is also determined to open a maintenance site for any weapons to be sold to Venezuela.
Venezuela bought recently 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. The United States strongly rejected the move when President Chávez suggested the possibility of arming one million people.
For his part, Army Commander Raúl Isaías Baduel declared Thursday in La Victoria, a major city of central Aragua state, that by the first quarter of 2006 three Russian-made, MI-17 choppers will arrive in Venezuela. The aircraft is to be used in military defense, keep internal law and order and engage the army in domestic development, official news agency ABN reported.
But there is an "IF" to all that. Migs are not that bad, typically only a generation or half a generation behind the latest US stuff, sometimes they are head in some areas.
But of course all Migs aren't created equal. Would these be Mig-21s, M-23s, Mig-27s, or Migh 29s? Makes a world of difference.
Meant to add that one thing Venezuela would have would be plenty of would be fuel for those flying hours. Of course getting good trainers to train their trainers is going to be a problem. The Russians don't have enough to loan them any, and for the most part neither do the Chinese. EuroWienies might manage, if they were of a mind to, but I sort of doubt the ones with the inclination would have the skilled trainers available.
Ain't capitalism grand?
I heard their pilots ejected before their planes were hit.
Are Migs worth a damn anymore?
Have they developed anything comparable to the F-22? I know they came close to matching the F-15 (but not quite).
Is anyone in the world even trying to keep up with the US on fighter technology? I saw something recently about a Mirage, but everything suggests it isn't even in the same park as even the F-117 (which we are retiring).
Although Cubans has never been able to change things partly due to JFK
Oh, why did you have to post that image? I was just totally jazzed by the f22 image in post 43, then I have to see that MM creature. Just brings home the fact that the left can and will at every opportunity negate the military advantage we may have over our enemies.
Watch out for the new Russian/Chinese knockoff of the F-22. It is the MiG 1.44 and the SU-47
Not according to what was recorded on the TCS tape.
They learned from us.
!
I more worried about the AK47s
They already have F-16. Who trained them to use them? The United States of America! Those pilots have a wealth of experience on the F-16. Easy to convert onto MiG-29s.
All true. We've trained pilots for many other countries. If it comes to shooting though, I wouldn't try to estimate the odds in our favor but anyone with money on the Venezuelans would lose it.
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