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Venezuela - Su-35

Venezuela was among the first countries to show an interest in the Su-35, with the Chavez administration highly valuing a strong military and a strong air defence capability in particular. Russia supplied 24 Su-30 fighter jets to Venezuela between 2006 and 2008. The Defense Ministry has studied the purchase of 12 new Sukhoi to increase each of its two fleets from 12 to 18 aircraft, according to military sources. Various media reported that the Caribbean country planned to replace the US F-16s from the Cold War era with two dozen Su-35S units, under a contract estimated at 2 billion dollars.

The Su-35 is a successor to the Su-30, a two-seater fighter which entered into service in 1996 and has been exported to militaries in South America, Asia and Africa, with the biggest orders coming from China, which operates more than 100 of the jets, and India, where 200 are in service.

According to Washington, the acquisition of the modern Su-35S would help Venezuela expand its fleet of several dozen Su-30MK2s that it had purchased from Russia during the Hugo Chávez government. The Su-35, powered by two 117S engines with thrust vectoring, combines high maneuverability and the capability to effectively engage several air targets simultaneously using both guided and unguided missiles and weapon systems. The aircraft has been touted as "4++ generation using fifth-generation technology."

Russia’s Su-35 heavyweight air superiority fighter gained only two export clients by 2022, China and Egypt, which placed orders in 2015 an 2018 respectively for 24 and approximately 26 fighters. Although Russia is the world’s second largest exporter of military aircraft, it offers far more different classes of combat aircraft for export than any other country with the Su-35 receiving only a fraction of total foreign orders. Cheaper less specialised aircraft such as the Su-30SM, Su-30MKI and MiG-29M have meanwhile seen many more units sold abroad.

In 2012 shortly before the Su-35 officially entered service, the aircraft gained considerable interest from a leading Russian defence client in the Americas - the then oil-rich and economically relatively prosperous state of Venezuela. Under President Hugo Chavez Venezuela’s heavily rentier oriented economy was free from Western economic sanctions and, more importantly, benefited from high oil prices which represented the large majority of the country’s exports.

The country had invested much of this into modernising its armed forces, purchasing 24 Su-30MK2 heavyweight fighters and what was at the time the most advanced Russian long range air defence system ever exported - the S-300VM. Alongside orders for modern armour, artillery, attack helicopters and other weapons systems, Venezuela signed a contract for the Su-30 jets in 2006, with these aircraft being based on the same ‘Flanker’ airframe as the Su-35. The Su-30s are until today considered the most capable combat jets in the Americas outside the U.S. Military, and were equipped with a range of advanced weapons including Kh-31 cruise missiles and R-77 active radar guided long range air to air missiles.

Venezuela is thought to have considered purchasing 24 Su-35 fighters to follow on from its order for the Su-30MK2, with President Chavez stating to this effect on 19 July 2012 “I have already sent a statement to the government of Russia that we are ready to consider buying in the next few years Su-35 fighters to modernise and enhance our defence powers… This independence, the well protected and guaranteed one, will give us a possibility to build new Venezuela, new Fatherland and to reach new horizons.” The president said that the issues of security, defense and the development of the country should be the priority for the government of Venezuela within the frames of the national independence provision.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he was interested in buying Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E multirole fighter jets from Russia to enhance his country’s defense capabilities. “I have already sent a statement to the government of Russia that we are ready to consider buying in the next few years Su-35 fighters to modernize and enhance our defense powers,” Venezuela’s national radio quoted Chavez as saying.

The Venezuelan president’s death in 2013 marked an end to the era of major investments in military modernisation, with the subsequent administration of Nicholas Maduro facing a crash in global oil prices from 2014 and a difficult economic situation ever since which made prospects for further acquisitions of high end fighter jets unlikely. With Russia recently offering a more capable fighter than the Su-35 for export, the next generation Su-57 jet which is only marginally more costly, it remain to be seen whether the older jet will see any significant further foreign interest. Venezuela was in the state of economic emergency, declared by President Nicolas Maduro in January 2016 in light of widespread food shortages, hyperinflation and anti-government protests.

Moscow is expecting a response from Caracas on the commercial offer of selling 12 Su-30 fighter jets, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said 29 March 2016. "The according negotiations have been held and the customer has been given an offer. We're expecting a response from our Venezuelan parnters," Anatoly Punchuk told RIA Novosti in an interview on the sidelines of an arms exhibition in Chile. In November 2015, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro confirmed the intention to buy 12 new Su-30 fighter jets for multiple purposes, including the fight against drug trafficking, particularly from Colombia

Venezuela is interested in purchasing a new batch of Russia's Su-30 fighter aircraft despite difficult political and economic situation in the Latin American county, Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Anatoliy Punchuk said 06 April 2017. "There is an interest, and it is emphasized in many ways. But one must understand that today Venezuela is in a difficult financial situation, they put internal social issues first, and it is necessary to ensure social reforms that the government is carrying out," Punchuk told journalists at the Latin American Defense and Security International Exhibition (LAAD) Defense and Security Exhibition.

The US special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, declared in December 2019 that Caracas had signed a military contract worth 209 million dollars with Russia. Under this supposed agreement, Moscow was to supply Caracas with its Su-35S aircraft and Mi-171 helicopters. Although Abrams did not specify when the parties signed the contract, former US National Security Adviser John Bolton had spoken of the same in June 2019. "In May, while hundreds of Venezuelans were starving, Maduro paid Russia $ 209 million for a defense contract to buy their continued support. Venezuelans want democratic leadership and not repression," Bolton wrote in his account at the time.

However, Russia denied this rumor, stating that they did not plan to sign any new military contracts with Caracas in the near future. The price of an S-35S fighter amounts to about 83 million dollars, while that of a Mi-171 varies between 4 million and 16 million dollars, depending on its version. This meant that Venezuela could buy just two Su-35S fighters and a couple of helicopters with the remaining sum of US$209 million.