Every conflict the Bolivarian Military Aviation has flown in
Venezuela’s air arm has fought no foreign war; most of its combat was against Venezuelans, in the revolts of 1958–1962 and the coup attempt of November 1992, which the Venezuelan state now commemorates as a “heroic feat” and the government of the time treated as a coup. In the 1987 Caldas crisis its F-16s flew low over a Colombian warship in waters both countries claim, with no exchange of fire recorded. Washington describes the operation of 3 January 2026 as law enforcement with military support and Caracas as a kidnapping and aggression; UN officials said it violated the UN Charter, and Venezuelan aircraft losses that night are disputed and have not been officially published. Interceptions under the 2012 airspace law are the FANB’s own statements. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the air force uprising of 1958 to the US strikes of 3 January 2026.
| Conflict | Jaren | Tegen | Hoofdvliegtuig | Uitvallen | Vliegtuig verloren | |
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| The air force uprising of 1 January 1958the fall of Pérez JiménezFuerza Aérea Venezolana | 1958 | Government of Marcos Pérez Jiménez | FAV fighters | |||
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Air force units rose against the government of Marcos Pérez Jiménez and flew fighters over Caracas. On New Year’s Day 1958 air force fighter planes appeared over a waking Caracas. The uprising was centred on the Boca del Río air base near Maracay and was part of a wider military crisis against the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez. The air revolt itself did not take power, but according to the English Wikipedia account it broke the regime’s aura of absolute control; three weeks later Pérez Jiménez flew into exile on 23 January 1958. The published account does not name the aircraft types or give losses. Resultaat The revolt was contained, but the regime was shaken; Pérez Jiménez left for the Dominican Republic on 23 January 1958. The Wikipedia article is flagged as needing citations; leaders, aircraft types and any casualties were not confirmed and are left out.
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| Air strikes against military revolts, 1960–1962San Cristóbal, Barcelona and El PorteñazoFuerza Aérea Venezolana | 1960–1962 | Rebel army and navy units | Canberra B.2 and B(I).8, other FAV aircraft | |||
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Bombed rebel-held positions for the elected government. Within three years of Pérez Jiménez’s fall, the air force was bombing fellow officers. On 20 April 1960 Canberra B.2s and B(I).8s attacked the airport at San Cristóbal, seized in a rebellion led by General José María Castro León. On 26 June 1961 the Canberras were used against rebelling army units at Barcelona. The largest action came in June 1962, when naval officers led by captains Manuel Ponte Rodríguez, Pedro Medina Silva and Víctor Hugo Morales rose at the Puerto Cabello naval base. From about six in the morning of 3 June the Solano fort, a rebel stronghold, came under aerial bombing; the revolt was broken that day and the fort fell by 6 June. Spanish-language Wikipedia also credits the air force with a final assault on the fort. A smaller revolt at Carúpano a month earlier (El Carupanazo) is not recorded as involving air attack in the sources checked. Resultaat All three revolts were put down. Casualty figures are Wikipedia’s totals for the whole revolt; aircraft numbers and sorties are not known.
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| The Caldas crisisGulf of VenezuelaFuerza Aérea Venezolana | 1987 | Colombia (stand-off, no combat) | F-16A/B | 0 | ||
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F-16s made armed low passes over the Colombian corvette ARC Caldas in disputed waters. In August 1987 the Colombian corvette Caldas entered waters of the Gulf of Venezuela that both countries claim. Spanish-language Wikipedia records that two Venezuelan F-16s, armed with Mk 82 retarded bombs, made low-level passes over the ship between 9 and 18 August. The Venezuelan defence ministry, marking the 43rd anniversary of Grupo Aéreo de Caza 16 in August 2026, still lists the crisis among the unit’s deployments. Colombia and Venezuela both claim the waters concerned. It was the first operational use of Venezuela’s new F-16s, four years after delivery. Resultaat No exchange of fire or losses are recorded in the sources checked. Dates and weapons are from Spanish-language Wikipedia; Colombia’s account was not checked.
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| The 1992 coup attempts4 February and 27 November 1992Fuerza Aérea Venezolana (loyal and rebel units) | 1992 | Rebel military units (November 1992) | F-16A/B (loyalist), Mirage III/50 (rebel), OV-10 Bronco (rebel)en nog 2 | |||
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In November rebel air force officers seized El Libertador and bombed targets in Caracas; loyalist F-16 pilots fought them in the air. The February 1992 attempt led by Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chávez and the MBR-200 was an army operation; no aircraft are recorded as taking part, and it ended with Chávez’s televised surrender. The second attempt, on 27 November 1992, was led by navy and air force officers — among them, according to Wikipedia, the air force pilot Luis Reyes Reyes and Brigadier General Francisco Visconti. Rebels took El Libertador and other air bases and for some hours largely held the sky. Their aircraft bombed or strafed the Helicoide (DISIP headquarters), Miraflores palace, a police headquarters and the air force’s own La Carlota base, and destroyed VF-5s on the ground. Loyalist F-16 pilots took off and shot down rebel OV-10s and a Tucano, one OV-10 over Barquisimeto, and air superiority passed back to the government. The rebels escaped in two C-130s, two Mirages, an OV-10 and several SA 330 Puma helicopters. The Venezuelan state now commemorates 27 November as a “heroic feat” and the AMB’s anthem day; the government of President Carlos Andrés Pérez treated it as a coup. Resultaat Both attempts failed. The November rebels flew to Iquitos, Peru, where they were given asylum; Chávez, jailed after February, was later pardoned and elected president in 1998. Aircraft-loss and death figures come from Wikipedia articles citing Tom Cooper (ACIG) and contemporary press and differ between articles; they are given as ranges and attributed.
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| Air interdiction of illegal flightsthe 2012 airspace defence lawAviación Militar Bolivariana | 2013– | Unauthorised aircraft, which the FANB describes as linked to drug trafficking | F-16A/B, Su-30MK2, K-8W | 1 | ||
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Intercepts aircraft entering Venezuelan airspace without authorisation and, under the 2012 law, immobilises or disables them. The Ley de Control para la Defensa Integral del Espacio Aéreo, promulgated in June 2012 and in force from October 2013, authorises the armed forces to act against aircraft that enter Venezuelan airspace illegally, up to rendering them unusable. The FANB announces cases one by one. On 14 July 2024 the Integral Aerospace Defence Command and the CEOFANB reported a Piper PA-34 Seneca forced down near Turén in Portuguesa; the aircraft was destroyed and the pilot died, and the military said it found material linking the flight to drug trafficking. On 29 October 2025 the CEOFANB commander, General Domingo Hernández Lárez, said F-16s had intercepted a Cessna 310 that switched off its transponder after leaving the Caribbean and landed on an illegal strip in Apure, where it was immobilised and disabled. Such statements are the government’s own; independent verification of each case is rare, and the overall number of aircraft destroyed since 2013 was not found. Resultaat Continuing; the FANB publicises individual interceptions. All figures and descriptions of the intercepted flights are FANB statements reported by Infodefensa. A Wikipedia claim that a K-8 shot down a Piper in 2022 is unverified and left out.
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| The confrontation with the United StatesOperation Southern Spear and the strikes of 3 January 2026Aviación Militar Bolivariana | 2025–2026 | Verenigde Staten | F-16A/B, Su-30MK2 | |||
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Flew F-16s near US warships in September 2025; its headquarters at La Carlota was among the targets struck on 3 January 2026. No air combat by Venezuelan aircraft was reported. From August 2025 the United States deployed warships and aircraft to the southern Caribbean and, from September, struck boats it said were smuggling drugs; by early September 2026 Al Jazeera counted 234 people killed in 70 strikes, and a UN special rapporteur called them extrajudicial killings that may amount to crimes against humanity, which Washington rejects. On 4 September 2025, CBS News and Reuters reported, two Venezuelan F-16s flew near the destroyer USS Jason Dunham, and President Trump authorised shooting down Venezuelan aircraft that endangered US ships. US Southern Command launched Operation Southern Spear on 13 November; the FAA warned airlines on 21 November, and Trump said Venezuelan airspace should be considered closed, which Caracas called a colonialist threat. US Navy fighters and a Triton drone flew inside the Maiquetía flight information region on 9 December. Early on 3 January 2026, in what Washington called Operation Absolute Resolve, an operation involving about 150 US aircraft struck targets including La Carlota, Fuerte Tiuna and Higuerote while special forces captured Maduro and his wife. The US government described the raid as law enforcement with military support; Venezuela’s government called it a kidnapping and imperialist aggression, and UN officials said it violated the UN Charter. Resultaat Nicolás Maduro was captured and taken to the United States; Delcy Rodríguez became acting president on 5 January 2026. US and Venezuelan accounts differ throughout; every figure is attributed. The F-16 incident is known from CBS News and Reuters as cited by Wikipedia; the Pentagon statement itself was not checked.
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Niets komt overeen met die zoekopdracht.
Elk cijfer, gecontroleerd
- Aviación Militar Bolivariana: start of the 106th anniversary activities (23 September 2026)Names Maj. Gen. Royman Antonio Hernández Briceño as Comandante General; marks the 34th anniversary of the “Gesta Heroica” of 27 November 1992.
- Mindefensa: GJ Gustavo González López at the 43rd anniversary of GAC No. 16 (31 August 2026)GAC 16 “Dragones”, F-16, El Libertador, formed 1983; took part in the 1987 Gulf of Venezuela crisis.
- Infodefensa: Trump insta a considerar el espacio aéreo venezolano “cerrado en su totalidad” (1 December 2025)Trump statement; Venezuelan foreign ministry response; FAA notice 21 November; Operation Southern Spear from 13 November 2025.
- Infodefensa: Aeronaves militares de EEUU aumentan sobrevuelos frente a las costas venezolanas (9 December 2025)F/A-18F, EA-18G and MQ-4C inside the Maiquetía FIR.
- Infodefensa: La FANB intercepta e inutiliza un avión identificado como “vector hostil” (29 October 2025)F-16s intercept a Cessna 310 landing in Apure; statement by CEOFANB commander Gen. Domingo Hernández Lárez.
- Infodefensa: La Defensa Aeroespacial de Venezuela intercepta un avión vinculado al narcotráfico (14 July 2024)Piper PA-34 forced down near Turén; airspace law promulgated June 2012, in force October 2013.
- Al Jazeera: Why United Nations says US boat strikes may be ‘crimes against humanity’ (22 September 2026)Strikes from September 2025; 234 killed in 70 strikes; UN special rapporteur Ben Saul; US position; UN report gives 75 killed in the January raid.
- Al Jazeera: As Chavez and Maduro images disappear, is Venezuela entering a new chapter? (13 September 2026)January 2026 operation; interim President Delcy Rodríguez; earthquakes of 24 June 2026.
- Al Jazeera: Venezuela’s Delcy Rodriguez promises elections at UN, gives no date (24 September 2026)Rodríguez acting president since January 2026; Maduro detained in the US awaiting trial.
Cijfers geverifieerd op 1 oktober 2026. Back to the Bolivarian Military Aviation of Venezuela.