USAF Rivet Joint aircraft mission off Venezuelan coastline

The USAF ran an RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft mission off the coast of Venezuela yesterday. The seven-hour mission was flown from their temp base in Puerto Rico. RC-135W aircraft #62-4130 Mode-S hex code AE01D1 used the callsign Grog 41 for the mission. Just another area of the world to keep an eye on.

Thanks to Aircraft Spots on twitter for this update.

Russian warplanes, navy ships to visit Venezuela

Have observed the following aircraft headed to Venezuela.

RuAF IL62 RA-82035 RFF8345
RuAF IL62 RA-86496 RFF8347
Russian strategic aviation 2 Tu-160 (#RF-94102 and RF-94100)
Russian strategic aviation Tu-160 (#RF-94108) returned to base

From the Daily Item:

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's defense minister says the country's aircraft and navy ships will make visits to Venezuela.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the statement during Thursday's talks in Moscow with his Venezuelan counterpart Vladimir Padrino Lopez. Shoigu said Russia's military aircraft would continue to make stopovers in Venezuela and its ships would calls at its ports as part of bilateral military cooperation, but didn't mention any specific dates.

Padrino Lopez said Caracas hopes that Moscow will help modernize previously supplied weapons.

Russia sent its Tu-160 strategic bombers and a missile cruiser to visit Venezuela in 2008 amid tensions with the U.S. after Russia's brief war with Georgia.

Russia-U.S. relations are currently at post-Cold War lows over Ukraine, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

Chavez open to Russian strategic bombers using Venezuelan island

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has proposed to Russia using a Venezuelan island for temporary hosting of Russian long-range aviation, a top-ranking Russian Air Force official said Saturday.

"There is such a proposal on the part of the Venezuelan president. Chavez proposed to us a whole island with an airfield that we can use for temporary basing of strategic bombers," said Maj.-Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, the chief of the long-range aviation staff.

"If there is the relevant political decision, the island ... could be used by the Russian Air Force," Zhikharev told journalists.

He said the temporary basing opportunity could be used for air patrol missions.

In September 2008 two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack multi-mission strategic bombers arrived in Venezuela after a 13-hour flight over the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. There were no nuclear weapons on board the aircraft. After that, they carried out a patrol mission over the Caribbean.

The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber, designed to strike strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theaters of operation.

Russian warships approach Venezuela under US gaze

Russian warships approached Venezuela Monday for upcoming joint maneuvers -- Moscow's first military presence in the region since the Cold War -- as Washington closely monitored the situation.

Venezuelan defense officials said the ships, including the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great and destroyer Admiral Chabankenko, would arrive on Tuesday.

The joint exercises were to coincide with a two-day visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Venezuela, the strongest US critic in the region.

The Russian warships were due to sail into La Guaira, near Caracas, and Puerto Cabello in northern Carabobo state.

The fleet includes five aircraft and several small ships, and Venezuela will provide eight aircraft and 11 ships, Gonzalez said Monday, adding that 1,150 Russian forces and 600 Venezuelans would take part in the exercises.

You can read the rest of the copyrighted AFP story at
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081125003957.eg0n3ki4&show_article=1

Hot Spot DXing: Colombia-Ecuador-Venezuala

Blog Note: You can find additional information on broadcasting from the affected area on our sister blog the Shortwave Central.

Over the weekend, the crisis has continued to escalate in the northern portion of South America. The latest on the wires indicates that Venezuela has closed its border with Colombia as part of a rapidly escalating crisis over the killing of a Colombian FARC rebel chief. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) - has been waging a four-decade guerrilla war against the government in Bogota, Colombia.

The move comes amid frantic diplomatic maneuvering to quell a rapidly spiraling crisis that threatens to engulf much of South America, after Colombia's weekend cross-border raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador which killed the FARC number two leader Raul Reyes.

Ecuador severed diplomatic ties with Colombia and Venezuela expelled all Colombian diplomats, prompting the 34-member Organization of American States to plan an emergency meeting in hopes of resolving the escalating tensions.

President Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela - a socialist and ideologically sympathetic to the Marxist-inspired FARC, ordered 6000 troops, tanks and aircraft to the border, warning Colombia of "war" if it tried a raid into Venezuelan territory.

While I do not have any material on monitoring the Ecuadorian military, I do have some previously monitored frequency information on the Colombia and Venezuela military. So from the Milcom Monitoring Post files here are some frequencies and nets to watch (all freqs are in kHz). This list is copyright 2008 by Teak Publishing and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any format without the permission of the author. Sites may link to this blog article freely without permission.

Colombian Military

Air Force (ALE) 10935.0 14775.0 20885.0

Army (ALE) 10489.0 11018.0

Navy (ALE) 4632.0 5500.0 7900.0 8300.0 8400.0 9085.0 9200.0 10486.0 10608.0 11155.0 11440.0 11445.0 11455.0 13530.0 14582.0 16544.0

Venezuela Military

Army (ALE) 4453.0 5406.0 5760.0 5787.0 6780.0 6786.0 6789.0 6870.0 7516.0 7597.0 7849.0 7896.0 8050.0 8060.0 8178.0 8180.0 8187.0 8859.0 9052.0 9184.5 9232.0 9233.0 9259.0 9289.0 10115.0 10156.0 10272.0 10396.0 10558.0 10600.0 11601.0 11604.0 11610.0 12185.0 12191.0 12192.0 12200.0 13455.0 13464.0 13506.0 14569.0 14647.0

Army/NG (Mil-Std-188-110A serial tone standard (encrypted)) 5406.0 6847.0 6870.0 8060.0 8181.0 9052.0 12919.0 13455.0 14569.0

CG/Navy (ALE) 7810.0 9065.0 11625.0 13475.0 15600.0

Navy (ALE+Mil-Std-188-110A serial tone standard (encrypted)) 5334.0 5439.0 6248.0 6357.0 6360.0 6810.0 6888.0 6890.0 6894.0 6895.0 6963.0 7849.0 8260.0 8270.0 8273.0 8275.0 8280.0 8285.0 8297.0 8340.0 8358.0 8500.0 8540.0 8582.0 8810.0 8825.0 9017.0 9075.0 9190.0 9350.0 9355.0 9380.0 9400.0 10272.0 10600.0 10650.0 12220.0 12480.0 12537.0 12546.0 12583.0 12660.0 13139.0 13500.0 13546.0 14759.0 14790.0 14900.0 14911.0 16716.0 17080.0 19098.0 19200.0 20396.8 20400.0

One interesting foot note to all this was a USAF Rivet Joint RC-135V (55 Wing/38RS) was reportedly spotted heading south a short time ago. This recon aircraft may be keeping an eye on things in the conflict area.

Picture (above) credit:
Português: Brasília - Entrevista do presidente da Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, após reunião na Granja do Torto com os presidentes do Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, e da Argentina, Néstor Kirchner. Source Agência Brasil - Foto no:130922 Date 19/01/2006 Author José Cruz/ABr Permission(Reusing this image) This photograph was produced by Agência Brasil, a public Brazilian news agency. Their website states: "O conteúdo deste site é publicado sob a licença Creative Commons Atribuição 2.5 Brasil" (The content of this website is published under the Creative Commons License Attribution 2.5 Brazil)