Venezuelan Air Force

The Bolivarian National Air Force of Venezuela/Venezuelan National Bolivarian Military Aviation, since end of 2008: Aviación Militar Bolivariana Venezolana (previously Fuerza Aérea Venezolana, FAV) is a professional armed body designed to defend Venezuela's sovereignty and airspace. It is a component of the Venezuelan armed forces.

History
In the aftermath of the first plane flight in Venezuela on 22 September 1912, a council was formed to search for a suitable aircraft for the growing Venezuelan Army in 1913.

The FAV goes back to 10 December 1920, when the Military Aviation School of Venezuela was formed with COL David López Henríquez as its first commandant in Maracay.Its mission was the training of pilots for the fledging national air service, then a part of the army.

Most of the airbases in Venezuela were built in the 1960s. The main fighter types in those years were Venom, Vampire, and F-86. Bomber squadrons typically operated B-25 Mitchell aircraft. The 70s and 80s saw a considerable increase in capacity, mainly because the rising oil prices enabled the FAV to re-equip most of its units. The mixture of various aircraft types was maintained and Mirage IIIE and V, VF-5A and D, T-2D, OV-10A and E, T-27 were introduced. Venezuela was one of the first export customers for the F-16 which arrived in 1983 to equip the newly formed Grupo Aéreo de Caza 16 at El Libertador Airbase.

In the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts, elements of the Venezuelan Air Force were key instigators of the rebellion. FAV units concentrated at El Libertador Air Base under the command of Brig. General Visconti seized control of the airbase and then launched an attack on the capitol. OV-10s, AT-27 Tucanos, and Mirage III fighters under his command bombarded targets in the capitol and loyalist air bases, destroying 5 CF-5 fighters on the ground. Two loyalist pilots escaped with F-16 fighters and shot down 2 OV-10s and 1 Tucano, claiming air superiority for the government. Two more rebel OV-10s were lost to ground fire. As the tables turned on the coup attempt, General Visconti and his allies fled in two C-130s, 2 Mirages, 1 OV-10 Bronco, and several SA.330 helicopters.

In 2006, Venezuelan F-16s, F-5s and Mirages participated in the joint exercise Cruzex III held in Brazil along with the air forces of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Peru and Uruguay.

Modernization
The AMV purchased 24 Sukhoi Su-30 planes from Russia in July 2006, as a result of the American embargo on spare parts for their F-16 force.

Currently Venezuela is in talks with Russia with regards to potential acquisitions of the Su-35 fighter aircraft and a second batch of aircraft 12-24 Sukhoi Su-30.

Organization
The Air Force is organized in twelve air groups, one for each aircraft type in use:


 * Air Group 4 with A-319CJ, Boeing 737, Dassault Falcon 50 and Mil Mi-17
 * Air Group 5 with Beechcraft Super King Air
 * Air Group 6 with Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Short 330 and Boeing 707
 * Air Group 85 with electronic warfare planes (Dassault Falcon 20 and C-26B)
 * Air Group 9 with Cessna 206 and Cessna 208
 * Air Group 10 with helicopters F-280FX Shark Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma and Eurocopter AS532 Cougar
 * Air Group 11 with Su-30MK2
 * Air Group 12 with K-8VV
 * Air Group 13 with Su-30MK2
 * Air Group 14 with Aermacchi SF.260, T-27 Tucano and Cessna 182
 * Air Group 15 with K-8VV and T-27 Tucano
 * Air Group 16 with General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
 * Air Group 17 with Mil Mi-17

List of Venezuelan Air Force Bases (former and present)

 * General in Chief Rafael Urdaneta AFB, Maracaibo, Zulia (HQ 1st Air Zone)
 * Lieutenant General Vicente Landaeta Gil AFB, Barquisimeto, Lara (HQ 2nd Air Zone)
 * El Libertador AFB, Palo Negro, Aragua (HQ 3rd Air Zone)
 * Lieutenant Luis del Valle Garcia AFB, Barcelona, Anzoátegui (HQ 4th Air Zone)
 * Generalissmo Francisco de Miranda AFB, Caracas, Venezuelan Capital District and Miranda (HQ 5th Air Zone and HQ, Venezuelan Air Force)
 * Marshal Antonio Sucre AFB, Boca del Rio, Aragua
 * Cacique Guaicaipuro AFB, La Esmeralda, Amazonas
 * Manuel Rios AFB, El Sombrero, Guárico
 * Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi Tactical AFB, Porlamar, Nueva Esparta
 * Aeronautics Museum of Maracay and Maracay Metological AFB, "Birthplace of Venezuelan Military Aviation", Maracay, Aragua
 * Lieutenant Colonel Luis Apolinar Méndez AFB, Puerto Ordaz, Bolívar
 * El Vigía Tactical AFB, El Vigía, Mérida
 * General in Chief José Antonio Páez AFB, Puerto Ayacucho, Amazonas
 * Major Buenaventura Vivas Guerrero AFB, Santo Domingo, Táchira

Aircraft inventory
, the Venezuelan Air Forces consists of the following aircraft models and numbers: