How Capable Are Venezuela’s F-16s? Ageing Jets Buzz U.S. Navy Destroyer in the Caribbean

On September 4 the Venezuelan Air Force deployed a pair of F-16 fighters near the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke Class destroyer USS Jason Dunham in the Caribbean Sea, as an intended show of force amid high tensions between the two countries. This occurred after the U.S. Navy deployed a a flotilla of warships for operations off the coast of Venezuela, including at least three destroyers and a nuclear attack submarine. Washington also renewed efforts to oust the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, including by placing a bounty on his head. Venezuela was one of the first clients for the F-16, and signed an order for 18 fighters in May 1982. The F-16A/B fighters are some of the least capable variants still in service anywhere in the world today, however, and lack any kind of beyond visual range weaponry, which seriously limits their ability to threaten American warships or to defend local airspace.

Venezuelan F-16s remain the only ones in the world fielded by a Western Bloc adversary, with the fighters reportedly having been intended to be phased out of service in the 2010s and replaced by Russian Su-35s, before the death of President Hugo Chavez in 2013 was followed by economic decline and a de-prioritisation of military modernisation efforts. The Venezuelan fighter fleet continues to be widely considered the most capable in Latin America, although this is primarily due to its deployment of 22 Su-30MK2 fighters which were procured from Russia in the 2010s. The Su-30MK2 fleet today represents by far the greatest obstacle to potential hostile efforts to violate Venezuelan airspace, and are the longest ranged fighter class in the Americas equipped with a wide range of beyond visual range weaponry including Kh-31A anti-ship cruise missiles. The deployment of F-16s, rather than Su-30s, to overfly the USS Jason Dunham, thus may have been intended to signal restraint, while also avoiding placing the much more valuable fighters at risk.