New Air-Defense System for Venezuela

Thales Nederland BV (Hengelo, the Netherlands) and Rafael (Haifa, Israel) announced on March 16 that they had conducted a successful test of a newly built Defender air-defense system for the Fuerza Aérea Venezolana (FAV, the Venezuelan Air Force) on Feb. 28. A missile was fired at a drone target during the test at Shdema Test Range in the south of Israel. The target was 7 km away when missile was fired, and the hit was achieved 6 km from the Defender's missile launcher.

One Defender system has already been delivered to the FAV, and two more will be turned over to the service by the end of this year. The systems will be used to defend the FAV's airbases, including the main base of El Libertador AB at Maracay-Palo Negro, home of the service's F-16s and Mirage IIIEVs squadrons. Venezuela's neighbors – Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia – do not have sophisticated weapons like tactical ballistic missiles or cruise missiles, so the relatively simple Defender system should prove very effective in protecting Venezuela's main airbases.

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