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Fuerza Aerea Venezolanas Selects Brazilian and Italian Aircraft

Venezuela recently defined the aircraft types destined to form the new training and attack components of its Air Force: the deals were won by Italian and Brazilian industries. The financial aspects of this substantial procurement are still to be fully defined.
Obsolete Beech T-34 Mentor will be replaced by a combination of Aermacchi SF.260E Warrior piston-engined basic trainers (a first batch of twelve was ordered in June) and Embraer "Super Tucano" intermediate turboprop trainers.
The FAV requirements for advanced jet training and light-strike will be satisfied by the purchase of fourty aircraft of two different types: Aermacchi MB-339FDs and AMX two-seaters, the latter produced by a consortium constituted by Alenia, Aermacchi and Embraer.
MB-339FD is very similar to MB-339CD, the latest digital version of the aircraft just delivered to the Italian Air Force, with the exception of the Rolls Royce Viper 680 engine.
FAV AMXs are expected to be a derivative of the IAF third batch configuration with customized avionic suite and weapon system.

In the pictures: IAF's 32nd Gruppo Alenia-Aermacchi-Embraer AMX two-seater and Aermacchi MB-339CD of the IAF's Experimental Flight-test Unit.

(Aeromedia, July 1998)