Illustrative image. (Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela)
The United States’ recent naval deployment near the coast of Venezuela on a counter-drug cartel mission have brought the two countries closer than ever to an all-out military confrontation.
Th naval force dispatched on the highly-suspicious mission includes more than 4,500 sailors and Marines on three ships: The Wasp class amphibious assault ship, the USS Iwo Jima, and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships the USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale.”
It also includes, three Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham and the USS Sampson, in addition to a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, USS Lake Erie, and the Los Angeles-class fast-attack nuclear submarine USS Newport News.
The force is very capable. It has sufficient assets to conduct large-scale amphibious operations as well as to launch long-range land-attack strikes with dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The deployment begin last month right after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump doubled reward for the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million on drug trafficking charges.
While Washington maintains that the naval deployment near Venezuela is directed against drug traffickers, close advisors to Trump suspect that what is unfolding is a drug trafficking operation with undertones of regime change in Caracas, according to a recent Axios report.
Venezuela has been taking the escalation very seriously, The Bolivarian Army of Venezuela has already announced a “significant” drone deployment as well as naval patrols along the country’s Caribbean coast. The Bolivarian Militia of Venezuela has been also mobilizing thousands.
“What they’re threatening to do against Venezuela — regime change, a military terrorist attack — is immoral, criminal and illegal,” Maduro said on August 29, before he called on citizens to join a militia to fight off an anticipated U.S. invasion.
But what can Venezuela actually do to confront the U.S. naval force if a confrontation break out? The short answer is a lot, but only if the military plays its cards in the right way.
Venezuela posses some serious anti-shipping capabilities. The Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela relies mainly on aging vessels. However, in some aspects they can still be considered highly-capable. That’s, of course, if they are still in a decent operational status.
The navy operates a single Mariscal Sucre-class frigate, an ex-Italian Navy Lupo-class built all the way back in the 1970s.
Despite its old age, the warship, Almirante Brion, packs a serious punch. It is typically armed with eight Italian-made Otomat Mk 2 anti-ship cruise missiles with active radar guidance and a reported range of 180 kilometers. The missiles were delivered to Venezuela first back in the 1970s, but as recently as 2020 they were still in an operational condition as evident by a test-fire from Almirante Brion.
The navy is also still operating three of its old Constitución-class gun boats, each had been upgraded with two Otomat Mk 2 launchers.
On the newer side, the navy operates three Guaiquerí-class patrol boats. These vessels were not armed with anti-ship cruise missiles when they were delivered by Spain in the early 2010. However, reports from 2020 suggest that at least two of these boats had been upgraded with Chinese-made C-802A missiles, which are guided via active radar and have a range of 180 kilometers. Each boat can likely carry at least four such missile.
A version of the C-802 deployed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah was credited with hitting the Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar 5-class corvette INS Hanit during the war of 2006.
The latest addition to the navy came in 2021, when Iran delivered at least four Peykaap III-class missile boats. Every boat is armed with two Iranian-made CM-90 anti-ship cruise missiles, the export version of the Nasir. The missile is also guided by active radar homing. It has a range of 90 kilometers.
The navy also operates at least four American-made AB-212ASW naval helicopters. When they were first delivered in the 1980s, they were armed with Italian-made Sea Killer Mk1 anti-ship missiles. The Sea Killer Mk1 is guided via radar beam riding, and has a range of just ten kilometers. These missiles could be effective against smaller landing vessels. However, It is highly doubtful that any of them are still in service.
Click to see full-size image.
Another key capability of the navy that may not be in service is its twin Type-209 diesel-electric attack submarines. Both were delivered by German in 1970s, but went through an upgrade later in the 1990s.
Venezuela has begun to overhaul the boats locally starting in the 2000s. But it is unclear whether one of the boats ever emerged from this. Even if only one of the boats is still active, it could pose a serious threats.
Older submarines can be effective if used intelligently. They are particularly threatening to ships inshore, although less so to other submarines. They could be also used to covertly deploy naval commandos.
Aside from the navy, the Bolivarian Military Aviation of Venezuela has always maintained some serious anti-shipping capabilities.
Between the 1970s and 1990s, the air force operated some 50 French-made Mirage 50 fighter jets armed with Exocet anti-ship cruise missile.
The air-launched version of the missile, which is guided by active radar and has a range of 70 kilometers, proved to be lethal during the Falklands War in 1982 when the Argentinians successfully used it to hit multiple vessels of the British Royal Navy.
None of the Mirages are still in service with the air force, and the fate of country’s stocks of Exocet missiles is unknown. It is very likely that they were all scrapped.
Click to see full-size image. (X)
The air force is now, however, in possession of better capabilities. It has some 21 Su-30MK2 fighter jets delivered by Russia in the 2000s. The fighter jets are armed with Kh-31A supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles. The missile has an active radar guidance system and a range of 70 kilometers. However, unlike other missiles of the same class which are subsonic, it can reportedly reach speeds close to Mach 3.
Another lethal missile that Venezuelan Su-30MK2 are armed with is the Kh-59ME, a cruise missile with electro-optical guidance and a range of 200 kilometers. The missile is mainly used for land-attack. However, it guidance system allows it to be used in an anti-ship rule, especially against anchored vessels.
While these capabilities pose a real threat to the U.S. naval force approaching Venezuela, battles are about more than technical numbers.
First, the force is well protected. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and the Ticonderoga-class cruiser are all equipped with advanced Aegis air defense system, which is designed to deal with all sorts of threats including anti-ship cruise missiles. Second, the readiness of all branches of the Venezuelan military has been a matter of question for the last few years. Third, the U.S. Navy simply have way more experience and resources than that of Venezuela.
If Venezuela wants to have a chance to win such a confrontation, it will have to get really creative. It will have to use its currently capabilities intelligently, attempt to restore whatever it can from its older capabilities and work on developing new less traditional capabilities, like unnamed aerial vehicles and unnamed boats.
A good example for the Venezuelan to follow would the Houthis in Yemen, who at least managed to deter the U.S. Navy to some extent.
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the south american thug maduro who despite the highest oil reserves has the poorest country in south america does poses some modern russian weapons. but like manuel noriega he may put up a fight but will lose. maduro is known for emptying his prisons including tren de aragua into the usa thanks to bniden.
please list all international sanctions on venezuela when you speak of management. are you juan guido ?
trump has closed the boarders and they fully secured secured by multiple public white house statements. so there is no avenue for the so called venezuelan sourced drugs to enter the us. simply, these drugs can not enter the us. period !
this isn’t about drug interdiction, and has everything to do with veneuela’s energy as russia, china, india and iran are pulling up the stakes from western customers… and “you’” and everyone else on this thread knows it!…
this is what ziocons and neocons do – wage economic warfare against countries like cuba and venezuela all over the world to try to inflict starvation on the population. then when the country experiences economic problems as a result, start sneering and sniping and carping about “mismanagement” and “corruption.” there is no country on earth that can hold a candle to the jewsa when it comes to corruption and mismanagement.
jewsa sanctions against cuba have lasted nearly 70 years. in that time they have cost cuba over $1 trillion, or over $100,000 per cuban. they have stolen cuban assets, iranian assets ($120 billion), libyan assets ($168 billion), venezuelan assets (billions of dollars and 31 tons of gold), afghan assets ($7 billion) and they are still thieving iraq’s oil. and countless others. the amerikunts are the biggest thieves on the planet.
but the world is turning on the jewsa. the whole planet has had a bellyful of the amerikunts. one day soon amerikunts will have to watch their children starve and die in front of them for lack of basic medicine. and the whole planet will be roaring with laughter as it happens.this day is not far off. and nothing in history will be so richly deserved. karma is a bitch.
go get another covid vaccine you tool
this article was written by an american? of course venezuela can sink american ships… but the question it´s… if venezuela does… then it´s gulf of tonkin incident! venezuela won´t sink any american ship…it will take the beat and fight yankee troops on the ground… and venezuela, a small country, can muster an army, different of capitalistic russia… sinking american ships are the bait… russian liberals never learn! lmao!
venzezuela has been under economic pressure for over a decade, the people don’t have an appetite for anything like that.
you mean american sanctions vanya that’s political pressure from the usa -treasury.gov ( usa ) website has a long list of them. it includes their oil supplies a major venezuela export thats why they are poor but they have free healthcare and housing subsidy.
sf isn´t based in crimea, but in langley, virgina… lmao… the final of the “text” was amazing, the houthis to “some extent”? excuse me? where are the aircraft carriers and the f-18 that commited suicide? hahahaha… i hope you are an american maga, if you are russians… well, well…
no. russia won´t help. a country of cowards that doesn´t deserve it´s past! like in syria and iran, russia will let venezuela bleed… but iran survived without russia, and go into china! the same will occur with venezuela… china is the only real independent/strong country in this world… russia and india should obey china or they could capitulate to trump! sf will like this very much!
china is multivector like all the rest.
what china do for anyone? maybe sell some parts, sell some tech, buy raw materials at deep discounts. nothing too great.
trump isn’t putin.
sink one of trumps ships and find out.
they might be able to hit something if they really coordinated a strike at one target. maybe 16-30 missiles at once coming in from different vectors. could they do that? probably not.
then what would they get as a reward? just trump all fired up with the americans wanting blood.
ships will not win a war for the us. us ships can destroy much. they can not occupy the land, they can not force capitulation of the venezuelan people. a 4.2 million armed venezuelans gorilla militia await us landing forces. this type of years long war will grind the us into nothing. another us led fools errand for the london banker cartel
if the amerikunts liked vietnam, they’re really, really going to love venezuela. bring it on, gringos! let’s see what you got! chumpo the peace president and nobel prize candidate has started so many other wars over the past 8 months, why not a few more?
yes, like say the chinese admirals, venezuela can… and much better in the caribean sea than, for example, in the caspian, or in the artic, and so on.
they don’t need to sink nothing. all they have to do is make sure all their oil istallations go up smoke so they don’t fall in enemies hands & or in the hands of any puppet regime who will surely be rammed down the throat of venezuelans. that way if the hegemon wants to take venezuela’s oil, they will have to waste lots of blood & treasuse & do some multi-decade, expensive insurgency & “country re-building”
china and india should not ship on more item to the usa. in a month the usa is fucked. india makes most of the medicines that are used in the usa . china makes everything else.