Watch This Crazy Video Of A Venezuelan F-16 Gunning Down An OV-10 Bronco

Updated Dec 1, 2017 3:49 PM EST

During a failed coup attempt by Hugo Chavez’s Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 in 1992, the second in that year, anti-government forces included commandeered OV-10 Broncos and other tactical aircraft seized at Venezuelan Air Force bases. This led to the crazy close-in, low-level engagement between one of those Broncos and a M61 cannon-slinging F-16A pilot loyal to the Venezuelan government. This incident can be seen the relatively astonishing video below.

The footage is remarkable as it is shot by a bystander on the ground and shows the F-16 turning into the OV-10 before popping its speed brakes and letting loose a burst of 20mm cannon shells. The OV-10E stood little chance against the marauding Viper, and its shattered airframe burst into flames before careening into the ground. The whole engagement appears to have occurred just a couple hundred feet in the air. It was one of three kills by two F-16 pilots, including one more Bronco and a AT-27 Tucano, that occurred during the coup attempt.

Venezuelan Air Force

Venezuelan F-16s are something of an oddity as they originally were the first Vipers exported to South America. In 1982 a deal was signed between Venezuela and the U.S. government for 18 Block 15 F-16As and six F-16B models. The jets would replace aging Mirage IIIs that made up the backbone of the country’s tactical air arm. Originally Venezuela was slated to received downgraded J79 turbojet powered F-16/79s , but Reagan opened up export restrictions killing that program and allowing for F-16A/Bs to be exported to second tier allies.

By the mid 2000s, under then firebrand President Hugo Chavez, the U.S. embargoed all arms sales to Venezuela. As a result, the country’s F-16s would be useless within a matter of months—or at least that was the plan. Instead the Venezuelan Air Force kept their F-16s flyable outside of OEM support—a major undertaking to say the least. At one time in his turbulent relationship with the U.S., Chavez, who was livid over the embargo, said he would sell the jets and their sensitive systems to Iran.

In the end Venezuela turned more heavily toward Russia and other sources for their military technology and weaponry needs. Eventually the Venezuelan Air Force took delivery of two dozen Russian Su-30MK2s to augment their F-16s in the high-end multi-role fighter role.

A Venezuelan SU-30MK2 sits idle under its shelter. The type serves alongside the F-16 as Venezuela’s top-line fighter force. , André Du-pont/Wikicommons

Some sources state that Venezuela’s remaining F-16s have received upgrades and support from Israel, including the addition of Python IV air-to-air missiles and laser targeting pods. Also there had been rumors that Venezuela supplied Iran with an F-16 for technical exploitation, although this has never been proven .

What we do know is that Venezuela has kept its Vipers viable in some part via leveraging the black market for parts. Considering nearly 5,000 F-16s have been built, and many A/B models have since been retired, the ability to obtain critical components is likely less challenging than one would think.

A Venezuelan F-16B seen with a Python training round., Rob Schleiffert /Wikicommons

Also of note, American-built F-16s have been involved in other coup attempts, most notably the one that occurred in Turkey in July of 2016. During the failed power-grab, F-16s flown by anti-Erdogan aligned pilots played a major role, including flying down streets at high-speed in afterburner and assaulting key targets. F-16 pilots loyal to the sitting administration also played a role and even protected the President’s aircraft . The historic event that has had massive impacts on Turkish society offered its own incredible imagery of F-16s in action, but nothing as dynamic as what was recorded in Venezuela on November 27th, 1992.

Our friend Thomas Newdick offered up a picture of a Venezuelan Viper toting a LITENING targeting pod of Israeli origin as suspected.

Here is video supposedly showing the second Bronco being shot down. Amazing that both engagements were caught on tape like this if this isn’t another angle of the first video.

Hat tip to @juanmab on Twitter for sending this over.

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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更新于美国东部时间2017年12月1日下午3:49。

1992年，乌戈·查韦斯领导的玻利瓦尔革命运动-200发动了当年的第二次政变，但以失败告终。反政府武装缴获了OV-10“野马”攻击机和其他从委内瑞拉空军基地缴获的战术飞机。随后，一架OV-10“野马”攻击机与一架效忠委内瑞拉政府、装备M61机炮的F-16A战斗机飞行员之间发生了一场惊心动魄的近距离低空交火。以下视频记录了这一令人震惊的事件。

这段视频令人震惊，它由地面上的一名旁观者拍摄，画面显示F-16战斗机转向OV-10，随后打开减速板，并发射了一连串20毫米机炮炮弹。OV-10E在F-16的猛烈攻击下毫无招架之力，其破碎的机身燃起熊熊大火，最终坠落地面。整个交战过程似乎只发生在几百英尺的高空。这是两名F-16飞行员在政变企图中击落的三架敌机之一，其他三架分别是OV-10E、OV-10E和OV-10E。

委内瑞拉空军

委内瑞拉的F-16战机颇为特殊，因为它们最初是出口到南美洲的第一批F-16“蝰蛇”战机。1982年，委内瑞拉与美国政府签署协议，购买18架Block 15型F-16A和6架F-16B。这些战机将取代老旧的幻影III战机，后者曾是委内瑞拉战术空军的主力。最初，委内瑞拉计划接收的是降级版的J79涡轮喷气发动机F-16/79，但里根总统放宽了出口限制，终止了该项目，并允许F-16A/B出口到二线盟国。

2000年代中期，在当时作风强硬的总统乌戈·查韦斯的领导下，美国对委内瑞拉实施了所有武器禁运。按理说，委内瑞拉的F-16战机将在几个月内失效——至少当时是这样计划的。然而，委内瑞拉空军却在没有原厂支持的情况下，设法维持了F-16战机的飞行能力——这无疑是一项艰巨的任务。在与美国关系紧张的时期，查韦斯对武器禁运感到愤怒，甚至一度扬言要将这些战机及其敏感系统卖给伊朗。

最终，委内瑞拉更加依赖俄罗斯和其他国家来满足其军事技术和武器需求。最终，委内瑞拉空军接收了二十多架俄罗斯苏-30MK2战斗机，以增强其F-16战斗机在高端多用途战斗机领域的实力。

一架委内瑞拉苏-30MK2战斗机静静地停放在机库内。该机型与F-16战斗机共同构成委内瑞拉的主力战斗机部队。（图片来源：André Du-pont/Wikicommons）

一些消息来源称，委内瑞拉剩余的F-16战机已从以色列获得升级和支持，包括加装“蟒蛇IV”空空导弹和激光瞄准吊舱。此外，还有传言称委内瑞拉向伊朗提供了一架F-16战机用于技术改造，但这一说法从未得到证实。

我们已知的是，委内瑞拉之所以能够维持其F-16战机的作战能力，部分原因在于它利用了黑市获取零部件。考虑到F-16战机已生产近5000架，而且许多A/B型战机早已退役，获取关键零部件的难度可能比人们想象的要低。

一架委内瑞拉 F-16B 进行 Python 训练。, Rob Schleiffert /Wikicommons

值得注意的是，美国制造的F-16战机也曾参与其他政变企图，其中最引人注目的是2016年7月发生在土耳其的政变。在那次失败的夺权行动中，由反埃尔多安阵营飞行员驾驶的F-16战机发挥了重要作用，包括高速开启加力燃烧室沿街道飞行并攻击关键目标。效忠于现任政府的F-16飞行员也参与其中，甚至负责保护总统专机。这场对土耳其社会产生巨大影响的历史事件也留下了F-16战机作战的惊人画面，但与1992年11月27日发生在委内瑞拉的事件相比，却显得黯然失色。

我们的朋友 Thomas Newdick 提供了一张照片，照片显示一架委内瑞拉 Viper 战机携带了一个疑似以色列制造的 LITENING 目标指示吊舱。

这段视频据称记录了第二辆野马车被击落的画面。如果这不是第一段视频的另一个角度，那么两次交火都被如此清晰地记录下来，真是令人惊叹。

感谢推特用户@juanmab提供此信息。

联系作者：Tyler@thedrive.com

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