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Methinks you are being more than a little silly here. The route is 3 times the range of the SU-30 and Venezuela doesn't have a prayer of interdicting the entire Atlantic with its tiny and out of range air force.

UK is disarming its navy, that is a story that needs to be understood. Chavez is a troublemaker buying advanced arms, that is a story that needs to be understood. But the UK and Argentina are not remotely going to fight each other - the Argentina of the present hour is Chavez and the threat is to places like Trinidad not the Falklands - and if they did Venezuela would yap like a terrier but not do a thing about it. If they do buy the subs they are talking about, they might acquire some ability, but that isn't what they'd use it for anyway. Don't take the idiot's propaganda at face value. Take it for what it actually is - the incoherent prestige-seeking bluster of a dangerous (but profoundly stupid) man.

With the refueling capability and with the search/recon aircraft that they have, and without US direct support in terms of fleet air defense...or as others on this thread have mentioned without the UK stationing Typhoons along the way...the Venezuelan SU-30MK2s would nonetheless pose a threat.

If they were serious about it and this was anything more than just a blowhard huffing and buffing (which most likely is all that it is), then they would be able to make the attempt and the UK would have to take it seriously...however unlikely they may deem it.

The UK could not afford to ignore such a risk.

But that's just my opinion...and was never meant to be anything more or less.

BTW, I believe the Venezuelan Air Force still maintains four KC-135s. If you check out the various pictures at this Venezuelan Air Force site and look at the unit nuymbers, I believe you can ID four seperate KC-135s.

Venezuelan Refueling Aircraft Pictures

Most of those pictyres were taken in 2006 and 2007.