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Venezuela Sends SAMs, Rocket Artillery To Caribbean Outpost As Iranian Tankers Get Closer
[TheDrive] The Venezuelan military has pledged to protect the tankers, which are carrying gasoline, from any American attempts to seize them.The Venezuelan military has sent a contingent of forces, including at least one of its Russian-made Buk-M2E surface-to-air missile systems, as well as BM-21 Grad and BM-30 Smerch artillery rocket launchers, to conduct exercises on the island of La Orchila off the country's coast in the Caribbean Sea. This propaganda show of force comes as the regime of dictatorial President Nicolas Maduro has pledged to escort five Iranian tankers carrying approximately 1.5 million barrels of gasoline safely into port in Venezuela, vowing to block any attempts by the United States to seize the ships on the high seas. Video and pictures of the Russian-made weapon systems on Isla La Orchila first emerged on May 22, 2020. Maduro subsequently announced the drills during a televised meeting with top military commanders in Caracas. He further framed them as part of a broader effort, dubbed Bolivarian Shield, to improve the country's ability to respond to any foreign aggression, which officially began in February. "We witnessed military exercises ... on the island of La Orchila, with the test of the most precise missile systems for the defense of waters and coasts," Maduro said. "We were testing the Russian Buk missile, absolute precision ..., a powerful missile." Military exercises have been carried out on Orchila island recently including this BM-30 Smerch pic.twitter.com/CZ0RsTn5DM — CNW (@ConflictsW) May 22, 2020 The Venezuelan armed forces do not have any land-based anti-ship missiles, which would pose a greater potential threat to any American warships that might be in the area and poised to board any of the Iranian tankers. They do have a limited number of Russian-made air-launched Kh-31s for their Su-30MK2 Flanker fighter jets and may still have some Franco-Italian Otomats for the Mariscal Sucre class frigates and Federacion class fast attack craft. Posted by: Woodrow 2020-05-26 |
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