Video shows Venezuela jet “aggressively shadowed” U.S. plane

[TomSea]

Video shows Venezuela jet “aggressively shadowed” U.S. plane
By  CBS News -  July 22, 2019

U.S. authorities said that a Venezuelan fighter jet “aggressively shadowed” an American intelligence plane flying in international airspace over the Caribbean, underscoring rising tensions between the two nations. The U.S. Southern Command said on Sunday that Venezuela’s action demonstrates “reckless” behavior by President Nicolás Maduro, whose government accused the U.S. plane of entering Venezuelan airspace.

U.S. authorities said their EP-3 plane was performing a multi-nationally approved mission on Friday and the Venezuelan SU-30 fighter jet closely trailed the plane, which the U.S. says endangered its crew. “The EP-3 aircraft was adhering to international standards and rules,” the U.S. Southern Command said in a statement.

The response by the Venezuelan fighter jet “undermines int’l rule of law & efforts to counter illicit trafficking,” U.S. authorities tweeted, providing video of what they said was the Russian-made jet.

Read more at: https://wdef.com/2019/07/22/video-shows-venezuela-jet-aggressively-shadowed-u-s-plane/

Another incident in the past 2 days.

[edpc]

I’d be very surprised if that aircraft had a Venezuelan pilot.

[Cyber Liberty]

I’d be very surprised if that aircraft had a Venezuelan pilot.

I'm surprised they even had a jet they could get off the ground.

[edpc]

I'm surprised they even had a jet they could get off the ground.

I would be willing to bet they had aviators and maintenance crew as part of that recent Russian ‘technical assistance’ detachment.

[Fishrrman]

How many planes does the Venezuelan "air force" have?
Would be a shame if they lost them all... eh?

[PeteS in CA]

How many planes does the Venezuelan "air force" have?
Would be a shame if they lost them all... eh?

They have around a dozen mid-80s vintage F-16As and a couple dozen of the Su-30s. They've probably had difficulty getting parts for the F-16s due to a parts embargo, so the number of mission-capable and -ready is uncertain. They've operated Su-30s for over 10 years, so they may actually be manned by Venezuelans. The Su-30 supposedly is similar to the F-15E - multi-role, 2-seater - but its speed is closer to an F-18 (~.5 mach slower than an Eagle). IOW, hypothetically, one Nimitz class carrier could bury the VAF, or an F-35 air group on a Wasp class amphibious assault ship could out-match the VAF.