Republic of Venezuela

[KIKE92]

If the US doesn't see you as a threat and you're not openly hostile towards them then there's no reason for them not to give you the catapults in the first place As for F-35, that remains to be seen. Turkey is the only 'iffy' nation to be getting them thus far. Who knows, you could get them!

Then i think we qualify, as for the F-35C i mentioned them for Italy, i intend to use the Rafale, Mig-29K and maybe a Navalized Su-30MKI.

[Blackbuck]

Indeed! Though, that's rather a broad fleet with lots of overlap.

[apdsmith]

Hi KIKE92,

The carriers look wonderful, however, I do have a query - your "two tower ski jump" carrier appears to have some doors closed behind the forward bow thrusters, but would you have doors behind the thruster props?

Regards,
Adam

[KIKE92]

Hi KIKE92,

The carriers look wonderful, however, I do have a query - your "two tower ski jump" carrier appears to have some doors closed behind the forward bow thrusters, but would you have doors behind the thruster props?

Regards,
Adam

Its just a little mistake, when i pasted the ski jump to the CATOBAR carrier a i forgot to paint the holes white.

Thanks for noticing, i didn't see it.

[KIKE92]

VAI – Helibras OH-1 Alacrán

The OH-1 Alacrán originated in a Venezuelan Army requirement for a lightweight observation helicopter. Early on, the Alacrán had attracted Brazilian interest, the Brazilian armed forces were also looking for a fast lightweight observation helicopter that could also perform armed reconnaissance task. Eventually this would culminate in the issuing of a major joint development and production work share agreement between Venezuelan Aircraft Industries and Helibras.

In order to reduce development costs and time it was decided to base the helicopter in an existing design, as a result many foreign designs were analyzed with the Aérospatiale Gazelle being chosen as the basis for the Lightweight Observation helicopter. In late 2017 six ex French Army Gazelles were acquired for testing, three were sent to Venezuela and three to Brazil. After a thorough evaluation of the aircraft the engineers managed to come up with the upgrades required so the Gazelles could satisfy the requirements of both customers. The changes made to the original helicopter were the installation of two powerplants to comply with the safety and payload requirements, a new five blade rotor, new fire control systems, universal weapons pylon found mounted on both sides of the aircraft and later Mast-Mounted Sight (MMS) above the rotor system.

The first prototype OH-1A flew for the first time on 30 April 2018, four OH-1A prototypes were flown. On 6 July 2018, the first production OH-1A Alacrán conducted its first flight, but after a batch of only 10 aircraft it was decided to cancel the OH-1A and just focus on the improved OH-1B with the Mast-Mounted Sight and weapons pylons. The helicopter is capable of carrying a wide range of weapons including the Brimstone missile, 20mm gun pods, rocket pods and the mistral air to air missile. The first helicopters entered service with the Venezuelan Army Aviation and the Brazilian Army in September 2018, with a total of 158 helicopters on order, 90 for Venezuela and 68 for Brazil. The helicopters proved successful locating and fighting insurgents in the jungle and also in the antidrug operations, as well as a remarkable fire support platform.

Early on, the OH-1 Alacrán had attracted South African interest, the South African Air Force was looking for a light armed reconnaissance helicopter that could complement the larger and more expensive Rooivalk, after testing the helicopter in South Africa an order for 24 aircraft was placed. The South African Air Force variant differed from the standard helicopters in the addition of South African equipment which included the integration of the Mokopa air-to-ground missile, an electronic countermeasures suite coupled with chaff and flare dispensers. The variant now named OH-1BZ Spinnekop started entering service with the South African Air Force in August 2019 and proved capable of operating in difficult environments without any support.

[eswube]

Looks cool!

[Hood]

Very nice work.

[KIKE92]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I have replaced the old Lince AFV's drawings, here are the new ones.


The Lince Program
The Lince (Linx) project was launched in Venezuela in December 2016. The aim of this project was to procure a new generation 8x8 infantry combat vehicle that would replace most vehicles in service. In 2017 after an open tender and in competition with the MOWAG Piranha and Steyr Pandur, the Patria was selected as a winner with its AMV armored fighting vehicle.

The Lince was developed in cooperation with Patria of Finland. It is a modified and better protected version of the Finnish Patria AMV for the Venezuelan armed forces. The vehicle was customized for the Venezuelan conditions. The first prototype was delivered for trials and evaluation in 2018. Originally 368 Lince vehicles were planned. Later this number was increased to 560. Production contract was awarded to CAVIM in 2019. Production started in 2020 with the first production vehicles delivered to the Venezuelan Armed Forces in 2020-2021. Deliveries were planned to be completed by 2030 but with more orders placed by the MoD in 2020 the production line would remain open until at least 2035. These new armored vehicles replaced the V100/150 Commando series, BTR-80 and the Dragoon 300 some of which were more than 30-year old and were considered obsolete.

CAVIM in cooperation with Patria developed a whole host of combat vehicles, based on their AMV. The Venezuelan version features major changes from the original Patria AMV, such as the ability to be transported by KC-390 or to swim through water obstacles. The new Venezuelan Army doctrine called for the fielding of rapid deployment brigades with the VB-2 Lince 8x8 heavily armored APCs in the same manner as the US Army fields Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. Each rapid deployment brigade has 8x8 armored vehicles of various variants. Operational concept behind these brigades is stressed on speed, deploy ability and maneuverability to counter enemy forces.



The DT-1A Lince is a new Venezuelan fire support vehicle. It is based on a VB-2 Lince, a Venezuelan Army license produced version of the Patria AMV armored personnel carrier. The DT-1A is fitted with a new turret equipped with a 120mm main gun. It has significant direct fire capability. Due to its weight the DT-1A fire support vehicle is more strategically and tactically mobile comparing with main battle tanks. The DT-1A will give the VB-2 equipped brigades the needed fire support as it is effective against armored and soft skin vehicles, buildings and fortifications. Also it has secondary anti-tank capability.

[Judah14]

Nice work! One thing to note is that the original Patria AMV has amphibious capability as well.

[Kilomuse]

Ooh, that Lince engineers variant looks very cool. Great job on these, KIKE. Your drawings just keep getting better and better.