Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced plans for the deployment of new Russian-made tanks and combat helicopters on the border with Colombia.
Ties between Venezuela and Colombia deteriorated last August after Washington signed a deal with Bogota allowing U.S. forces to run anti-drug operations from Colombian bases. Chavez has criticized the deal and called for the Venezuelan people and army to prepare for a war.
“We are expecting the arrival of the first shipment of tanks [from Russia] which will be sent to Barracas [in the state of Barinas] to reinforce a motorized infantry brigade,” Chavez said in his weekly TV program, Alo Presidente, on Sunday.
“In addition, attack helicopters arriving from Russia will be deployed along the Colombian border,” he said.
Chavez secured a $2.2 loan from Russia during his visit to Moscow last September for the purchase of 92 T-72 main battle tanks, an undisclosed number of Smerch multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), and a variety of air defense systems, including the advanced S-300 complexes.
Between 2005 and 2007, Moscow and Caracas signed 12 contracts worth more than $4.4 billion to supply arms to Venezuela, including fighter jets, helicopters and Kalashnikov assault rifles.
Venezuelan military already has nearly 200 tanks, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, while Colombia has no tank units.
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Note: This article mentions specifically the T-72 MBT, the S-300 air defense complex and Smerch MLRS. As far as I know, the “jet fighters” in question are SU-30MKV (a variant of the SU-30MK2 with anti-shipping capabilities), the “Kalashnikovs” are modern AK-101, and the “variety of air defense systems” refers to the 9k38 Igla MANPADS and the Tor-M1 air defense system. The helicopters are Mi-17B multirole helicopters, Mi-35 Hind E attack helicopters and Mi-26 Halo heavy transport helicopters. Finally, Venezuela is also negotiating the purchase of several dozen Ilyushin Il-114 patrol planes and 10 Mi-28N Havoc attack helicopters. Venezuela also expressed interest in the new Su-35 fighter. The Russian government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported that the Venezuelan military plans to buy six conventionally powered submarines. Moreover, Caracas wants to acquire several dozen surface warships, including Project 14310 Mirage patrol boats, which are floating missile platforms that can destroy any ship seven to 130 kilometers away.
I am not against Chavez, all the opposite. But I think that Venezuelan armed forces are an overkill for a South American country: it is incomparably more powerful than the Colombian, and even stronger in many aspects than the Brazilian (for example, Brazil’s most modern fighters are refurbished French Mirage 2000, older and less capable than VAF’s brand new Su-30MK2V). I think it is very unlikely that the US will directly attack Venezuela, with a frontal military attack: covert and subversion are much more real threats.
Considering that the times now aren’t great for acquiring so much expensive military equipment, I think Chavez should reconsider these contracts.
@ Carlo: First, I fully agree with you that the real threat to Venezuela is a coup and subversion. The kind of hardware Chavez is buying cannot help here. Even for border skirmishes or even a war against Colombia most of these systems are of marginal utility (except the Iglas). Geography dictates that a war between Colombia and Venezuela would be a infantry war limited to the border areas. I don’t think that anybody is seriously suggesting that Colombia will try to invade Venezuela.
However, I also hear that the Colombians are better trained and better equipped, and their military is larger. They would, no doubt, also get covert US support like the Brits did during the Malvinas war.
So I think that Chavez’ goal is double. He wants to be able to strike deep inside Colombia if needed, and he wants to embark on a long term program of modernization of the armed forces. Considering the very real threat he is facing from the USA, I think that this is a reasonable goal. He is doing much more than getting Russian toys, he is also thereby dramatically increasing the level of sophistication of his armed forces. Right now, under any scenario, Venezuela could do not more than passive defense. Chavez clearly wants to be able to able to have a much bigger choice of options.
None of that will stop a US attack if the Empire decided to go ahead with it, but it could substantially raise the risks and the costs for the attacker. That also strikes me as reasonable.
Frankly, the issue is one of cost and prioritiztion. If Venezuela can afford to re-arm and modernize, then I say they should got for it. But they should definitey not sacrifice social budgets for the sake of the military.
“Frankly, the issue is one of cost and prioritiztion. If Venezuela can afford to re-arm and modernize, then I say they should got for it. But they should definitey not sacrifice social budgets for the sake of the military.”
Here’s to hoping for oil back to 150 :-)
Well, it doesn’t seem oil will come back to mid-2008 levels so soon. It is at around $ 80 a barrel now, and perhaps will fall again. That is why I said Chavez should cancel any plans for new military equipments.
I’ve been reading in the Argentine and Brazilian mainstream media about some serious problems in the Venezuelan economy lately (specially inflation and electricity cuts). For example, these:
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2010/01/11/um/m-02117906.htm
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2010/01/07/elmundo/i-02114941.htm
And I agree with this guy only when he says that Chavez has done few to diversify Venezuela’s economy, as this country still imports most of its industrialized products and even food:
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2010/01/10/elmundo/i-02117077.htm
Carlo Venezuela´s army so full of obese untrained comunist lazy soldiers. Colombia will kick their asses hard!