War games in crisis: Venezuela tested a Russian anti-ship missile

The Bolivarian military aviation tried a Russian-made anti-ship missile as part of the Bicentenario Angostura 2019 exercises, started at the beginning of the month. in the middle of a political crisis triggered by the proclamation of Juan Guaidó as interim president and in defiance of Nicolás Maduro's regime.

In a video published by the Bolivarian Navy, which participated in the same exercise together with the Air Force, you can see a Sukhoi Su-30MK2V fighter-bomber firing an anti-ship missile Kh-31, both bought from Russia.

In the leaked footage, you can also see a squadron of Venezuelan warships and a control room to monitor the launch against a training target.

The Kh-31 are supersonic radar-guided missiles designed in the Soviet Union and entered service in 1988. Initially, they were designed to destroy radar installations by detecting their specific emissions, although an anti-ship version was later developed.

When they are fired from an airplane, they have a range of about 100 kilometers and fly at a speed of 3.5 MACH (about 4287 kilometers at the time). According to badyst Robert Lee, of the War Studies Department of King's College London, Venezuela would have bought about 80 Kh-31 in 2008.

While the Sukhoi Su-30 are multipurpose air superiority fighters designed in Russia and entered service in 1996, based on the Sukhoi Su-27 "Flanker" developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

In their MK2V version, they started arriving in Venezuela in 2006 in one of the many arms sale deals between the Chavez government and Russia, and it is estimated that there are 24 in the services. They can fly at a speed of 2 Mach (about 2,120 km / h), a range of 3,000 km and an altitude of 17,000 meters, carrying a large number of weapons.

The exercises of Bicentenario Angostura 2019 officially started on February 10 and ended five days later, although the video was posted on the official YouTube account of the Bolivarian Navy as of February 8, two days before the demonstration during which Nicolás Maduro gave free rein to the maneuvers.

Military exercises and endless crisis

An extraordinary context led to the exercises were seen as a show of strength. On January 23, 2019, the National Assembly of Venezuela, controlled by the opposition, appointed Juan Guaidó as interim president of the country, charged with realizing the transition of power and the call for "free" elections.

The camera was moving in this way against what he defined as a "usurpation of power" led by the chauvinist Nicolás Maduro, who described parliament as contempt after losing control at the polls, was re-elected in 2018 during elections denounced for fraud and illegitimacy, with the opposition being persecuted and participating only very little.

The situation has divided the international community. The United States, Canada, the European Union and most Latin American countries have recognized Guaidó on the basis of the legitimate power of the National Assembly, and they call for a transition, in a context of social and economic crisis characterized by high levels of inflation, violence and poverty.

Meanwhile, Maduro is maintained thanks to Chavismo's control over the Venezuelan armed forces and got support from Russia, China, Turkey and Iran, among other countries.

A third number of countries, led by Mexico, They called for a renewed dialogue between the opposition and the government, although the previous process initiated in 2014 with the participation of the Vatican and the mediation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), today practically without power, have ended in failure.

Since then The situation degenerates into armed conflict between states, civil war or uncontrolled increase in violence. About, Colombia and Brazil, who share the border with Venezuela and are the first destination of mbad exodus of Venezuelans seeking to flee difficult conditions, have strengthened security in the region and The United States has stated that it does not exclude a military option.

Maduro replied toannouncing a deployment and mobilization to counter the "war plans" of the United States and Colombia, and although the exercises of the Bicentenario Angostura 2019 are over, we can still observe a strong militarization of the country, especially through irregular Bolivarian militias.

The Kh-31s are weapons specifically designed to sink surface ships as members of this small fleet, although it is not the most modern and successful weapons of the current market.