Col. Héctor D'Armas, Ccommander of FAV Grupo 16

Within Grupo 16, the aircraft are operated by two multirole flying squadrons designated Escuadron de Caza 161 “Caribes,” named after a Venezuelan indian tribe, and Escuadron de Caza 162 “Gavilanes,” or Sparrowhawks. Both squadrons are sub-divided into three escuadrillas or flights, identified as A, B, and C. A third squadron, designated Escuadron de Mantenimiento 167, maintains the F-16s.

Col. Héctor D’Armas Dugarte, who has been involved with F-16s since January 1985, commands the F-16 Grupo. “The F-16 plays a prominent role in our air force,” says D’Armas, who has amassed over 1,300 hours in the Fighting Falcon. “Since its arrival, the F-16 has formed the backbone of our air defense; it is also regarded as the pinnacle of our nation’s defense capability.” The importance of the F-16 for Venezuela stretches beyond its military, as D’Armas explains: “In Venezuelan society, the F-16 represents the nation’s pride in our technological achievements. It symbolizes our sovereignty and our willingness to defend it.” This civic pride is illustrated in the city seal of Palo Negro, which carries an F-16.

At El Libertador, F-16s operate alongside Mirage 50EV/DVs of Grupo Aéreo de Caza No. 11. The Mirage 50 is the final model of the Mirage III/V family, which is only operated by the air forces of Venezuela and Chile. The FAV Mirage 50 fleet consists of retrofitted Mirage IIIs and Vs previously operated by the FAV as well as of newly built Mirages. The Mirage 50 shares a few systems with the Mirage F.1, such as the Cyrano IV radar and the Atar 9K-50 engine, and features a new avionics suite. Single-seat Mirage 50EV and dual-seat Mirage 50DV fighters often team with the Grupo 16 Falcons to fly missions and to practice air combat training.

Among the other tenant units at El Libertador is Grupo de Transporte No. 6. This unit performs a special support role for the FAV fighter force, like the F-16s from Grupo 16. Besides its Lockheed Martin C-130H, Shorts 360, and Alenia G.222 transports, Grupo 6 operates two Boeing 707s modified to provide aerial refueling. These tankers can refuel aircraft equipped with USAF-style refueling receptacles, like that of the F-16, as well as aircraft fitted with refueling probes, like that of the Mirage 50.

Expanding Capabilities

The FAV is capitalizing on the F-16’s potential for expanding its capabilities with new update programs. “The aircraft offers new things all the time and is challenging us constantly,” D’Armas points out. “The great team of technicians and pilots we have in Group 16 enables us to keep ahead.” Most of these upgrades are carried out by the grupo’s own technicians of Escuadron 167. In recent years, these upgrades involved replacing the Litton AN/ALR-69 radar warning receiver with an enhanced Elisra SPS-2000 RWR from Israel as well as installing the Litton LN-93 ring laser gyro.

“Many of the technicians in Group 16 have been with the Venezuelan F-16 program since the beginning,” says Michael Erter, the Lockheed Martin technical representative at El Libertador. “They take a lot of pride in their knowledge of the systems and are quick to demonstrate their skills. The Grupo 16 technicians are some of the best that I have worked with in my twenty-two years with the Fighting Falcon.”

Maj. Andrés Vocan and Mike Erter, Lochneed Martin technical representative

Among the current upgrades is a program aimed at fielding the Litening laser designator and infrared navigation pod produced by Rafael. The Litening pod provides the FAV with a capability to use precision-guided munitions, such as the 500-pound GBU-12 and 1,000-pound GBU-10 laser-guided bombs. The pod has also been selected by the US Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve F-16 units.

“We are extremely pleased with the Litening system,” says D’Armas, who was involved in the selection process. “We have also evaluated the Sharpshooter pod and the French Atlis II system, but we felt most comfortable with the Litening. We were one of the first air forces to evaluate the new targeting and navigation pods. Several other operators have followed since, including the US Air Force. The selection of the Litening pod by the ANG in the US reinforced our belief that we made the right choice.”

Another major program is the refurbishment of the F100-PW-200 engines to bring them up to PW-220E standard. Although the F-16s are being provisioned for the upgraded engines at El Libertador, the engines themselves are being reworked outside Venezuela. “We have contracted Samsung in Korea to upgrade the engines,” says Maj. Andrés Volcan, the commander of Escuadron 167. “Sending the engines all the way to Korea required some effort on our part to maintain aircraft availability, considering that the entire upgrade process, including shipment, takes about three months per engine,” the maintenance chief continues. “The upgrade program is running smoothly. We have been installing the wire harnesses required to accommodate the 220Es and modifying the cockpit instrumentation ahead of schedule.”

In a similar manner, Grupo 16 is currently fielding a night vision capability for its F-16s, which encompasses installing cockpit and external lighting that is fully compatible with night vision goggles. Aircraft modifications for both the NVG and engine upgrade programs concluded recently.

New Roles And Relationships

The Litening pod and the NVG capability of the FAV F-16s account for the F-16s being called into night action recently to counter illegal border incursions and illegal incursions into Venezuelan air space. In the latter missions, the infrared capabilities of the Litening pod, designed primarily for air-to-ground use, provided the FAV with a useful instrument in the air-to-air regime as well because the system aids nighttime intercepts. For missions like these, for which Grupo 16 continuously pulls alert duties at El Libertador, the FAV increasingly cooperates with other services of the Venezuelan military.

Such interoperability and service integration are key issues in the Venezuelan armed forces nowadays. As Brig. Gen. Anselmi notes: “We are moving toward a new military doctrine that focuses on a unified command structure that covers all branches of our armed forces. Although we are still several years away from fully implementing this doctrine, we are already addressing such interoperability issues as command and control. We have to deal with cultural differences within various branches of our military. These differences make the entire operation even more interesting.”

New Capabilities And F-16 Training

The operation of the Litening pod and the NVG system forms part of the training syllabus of the Grupo 16 F-16 pilots. Once qualified on the F-16, pilots complete the twenty flights of NVG training. Capt. Juan “Judas” Pinto, an F-16 instructor pilot from Escuadron 161 with almost 1,000 F-16 hours, is enthusiastic about the NVG capability. “NVG literally opens up a completely new world,” he says. “At first it takes some adaptation to become accustomed to the imaging and coloring the NVGs generate. Once they reach a comfort level, pilots can take advantage of this wonderful asset.”

F-16 pilots enroll in the NVG course before they are inserted in the Litening training course, which includes another twenty flights. Further F-16 courses offered at the base include two- and four-ship flight lead courses, a functional check flight course, and an instructor pilot course.

The instructor pilots of the two escuadrones play a key role in training the pilots who eventually join Grupo 16. Basic qualification on the Fighting Falcon is taught in A, B, and C tracks. Experienced fighter pilots shifting to F-16s or pilots regaining their F-16 currency complete the thirty missions in the A-track. Pilots joining Grupo 16 with less experience on jets, such as those coming from the FAV’s OV-10 Broncos, complete the sixty flights in the B-track. New pilots coming straight out of pilot training complete the 120 flights in the C-track. This C-track course has been extended recently as graduates from the FAV pilot training selected for the F-16 immediately progress to the Fighting Falcon from the Embraer EMB.312 T-27 Tucano.

This relatively big step from Tucano to F-16 is the result of a recent revision of the FAV pilot training curriculum. In the FAV, pilot trainees start their career at the Escuela de Aviación Militar, the military flying school of the Venezuelan air force academy at Mariscal Sucre Air Base at Boca del Rio just outside Maracay. Here, Grupo de Entrenamiento Aéreo No. 14 guides students through an elementary flying course on the Beech VT-34A Mentor and the SIAI Marchetti SF-260E, the latter being a replacement for the aging Mentors. Following this six-month course, students progress to the Tucanos of Grupo 14 for a six-month advanced flying training course.

Following their graduation, FAV pilots selected to go to fighters either advance to the NF/VF-5s of Grupo Aéreo de Caza No.12 at Barquisimeto or continue on the Tucano for a fighter lead-in training course. On the F-5, pilots complete a similar fighter lead-in training as on the Tucano. Pilots are introduced to air-to-air and air-to ground tactics and weapon employment before they can be deployed to the operational F-16 and Mirage squadrons. The tactical training on the Tucano serves as a stopgap measure following the deactivation of the Rockwell T-2D Buckeye jet trainers, previously operated by Grupo de Entrenamiento Aéreo No. 13 at Barcelona. Until their retirement in 1999, the venerable Buckeyes formed the tactical stepping stone to the operational fighter units for new FAV fighter pilots. This situation will be changing later this year when the FAV’s new jet trainers, the Alenia-Aermacchi-Embraer AMX-T two-seat trainers, start arriving in Venezuela.

Future Upgrades

Apart from fleet rejuvenations and current upgrades, the FAV is about to embark on the most significant F-16 upgrade programs to date to provide a credible F-16 combat potential for the next twenty years. The improvements should enable night and adverse weather operations. “We are studying several options at this moment,” explains Brig. Gen. Anselmi, FAV air operations commander. “On the one hand, we can choose the Mid-Life Update kit for a robust and proven set of sophisticated technological features. On the other hand, we can choose from a variety of attractive alternatives to the MLU package.”

The FAV is assessing the Israeli F-16 Avionics Capability Enhancement upgrade kit as an alternative to MLU. The F-16 ACE, a joint project of Israeli defense industries led by Israel Aircraft Industries and Elbit Systems, upgrades the avionics and enhances the aircraft structure to extend aircraft service life.

Another MLU alternative is the Falcon One upgrade program offered by Singapore Technologies Aerospace. Similar to the F-16 ACE, Falcon One offers state-of-the-art avionics with a glass cockpit. Sophisticated as the Israeli and Singapore options might be, the MLU package is still considered an attractive choice, especially since the FAV is evaluating European partners to overhaul its F-16 fleet to bring it up to an MLU standard. SABCA in Belgium and Fokker in the Netherlands, which are upgrading the F-16s of their respective air forces, are being considered for the upgrades. No matter which option the FAV pursues, the ever-expanding capabilities of its F-16 fleet will expand even further.

Eric Stijger is an aviation journalist based in the Netherlands.