Thread by @ConflictsW

Venezuelan military identification guide. Here’s some identification tips for frequently seen Venezuelan military equipment and how to spot it when it’s being transported. As well as some identifying information on other Venezuelan military vehicles/aircraft.
#Venezuela

First is the S-125 Air Defence system which are commonly moved around.
The below video is an example of what a full S-125 convoy looks like when being transported

Some identification points are the transloaders and the launcher vehicles. The launches vehicles usually travel without any vehicles and are quite recognisable, the transloaders are military trucks with usually 2 missiles on and are accompanied by multiple military trucks.

The Low Blow Radar is also frequently seen with the S-125 convoys, here’s an example of what it looks like during transport

Next is the BUK M2 air defence, which is also spotted quite frequently. BUK convoys usually consist of the launcher vehicles which are covered up during transport, however if they aren’t covered up then the launcher will have as many as 4 white missiles.

Next is the T-72 tank, usually seen being transported around on trailers if they’re moving further than a couple of miles. You will know one when you see one.

The BMP-3 is an infantry fighting vehicles, it’s a small tracked vehicle, smaller than the T-72 tank, these will also be transported on trailers unless they’re only moving a couple of miles, they have a much smaller cannon than that on the T-72 tank

The BTR-82A is a lot more commonly seen around Venezuela. It’s regularly used by the national guard

The BTR-82A is an armoured fighting vehicle, you can identify it by its 8 wheels. BTRs drive around a lot more as they have wheels, not tracks but over long distances they are still transported by trucks

The next 2 vehicles are very similar but are very rare to see as they are only used by the Venezuelan marines. The VN-18 and VN-16 are amphibious vehicles, you can identify them by the big wedge on the front. The VN-18 has the smaller gun and the VN-16 has a large 105mm turret.

The most common ‘military vehicle’ to see is the VN-4 which is commonly used by the GNB at protests.

Moving onto some planes now, this is the F-16 which only has 1 engine. The only place the F-16s operate from is BAEL in Maracay. If you see or hear a fighter jet in or near Maracay it’s likely to be an F-16.

Next is the Su-30, the other fighter jet Venezuela uses, the Su-30 has 2 engines compared to the F-16 which only has 1. The Su-30 operates from 2 main locations, Barcelona, Anzoategui and in Guárico state, they are not based in Maracay.

Another smaller ‘fighter jet’ is used frequently around Venezuela, The K-8 is a trainer jet and is much smaller than the F-16 and Su-30
For example this video shows some K-8 jets in low flight.

The K-8 operates from multiple locations across Venezuela.

The Mi-8 is one of the most used transport helicopters by the Venezuelan Army and is frequently used. It looks similar to the Mi-35 which is an attack helicopter, the cockpit is the easiest way to tell these 2 apart, the Mi-35 has 2 ‘bubble’ pods at the front.

*BTR-80