As Maduro vows to protect sovereignty, experts cast doubt on the operational capacity of Venezuela’s naval fleet.
Amid a growing US military presence in the Caribbean, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has asserted that the US will never be able to invade, pledging to defend the nation’s sovereignty. While Maduro has been seen arming citizens, the question remains: How capable is the Venezuelan Navy of defending its waters?
A Navy Confined to Coastal Waters?
Official data is scarce, but assessments from experts, combined with videos and statements released by the Venezuelan government and military, paint a picture of a force with limited capabilities, particularly in open water.
According to analysts interviewed by Breaking Defense, the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela likely possesses „brown and green water capabilities,” meaning it can conduct operations within a limited range of the coast, according to Andrea Resende, a maritime security scholar and professor of international relations at Belo Horizonte University in Brazil.
Missing in Action: Key Vessels Absent From Drills
Recent exercises, like the coastal defense Exercise Luisa Caceres de Arismendi and Exercise Sovereign Caribbean 200, have showcased transport vessels and amphibious landing vehicles. The Navy released a social media video that the exercises featured the Capana, the transport ship Los Hermanos, the coastal patrol vessel Serreta, and what appeared to be three Iranian Peykaap II speedboats. Each exercise was carried out in coastal waters, not in the high seas.
However, conspicuously absent from these exercises are the larger, more significant vessels that once formed the backbone of the Venezuelan fleet, such as submarines and frigates. This raises serious questions about their operational status.
Submarines: A Hangar Queen?
Resende suggests that the submarines are likely „not operative, as far as scholars and analysts know.” Venezuela possesses two submarines built in the 1970s, the Sabalo and Caribe. A video posted on the Navy’s social media in April appears to show a submarine identified as the Sabalo in a hangar at the Dianca shipyard, potentially suggesting it’s undergoing extensive repairs or is non-operational.
Frigates: Status Unknown
The Mariscal Sucre-class frigates, acquired from Italy in the early 1980s, represent the Navy’s primary surface combatants. However, their current condition remains uncertain.
In late 2022, defense news agencies Defensa.com and Infodefensa reported that the frigate Almirante Brión was undergoing maintenance in a Dianca dry dock. In January 2023, the shipyard released a photo of a ship with the hull number F-22, matching the Almirante Brión. However, neither the shipyard nor the Navy has confirmed its return to active service. No reliable images of any frigate at sea have surfaced on social media channels reviewed by Breaking Defense.
Patchwork Repairs and Improvised Solutions
While the Dianca and Ucocar shipyards have announced the successful repair and return to service of smaller vessels, the overall picture suggests a fleet struggling with maintenance and modernization.
Andrei Serbin Pont, president of the CRIES think tank, points out that even seaworthy ships may lack adequate weaponry. The Guaqueri-class oceanic patrol vessels (also classified as corvettes) „were never properly armed and today depend on improvised solutions like the integration of C-802 missiles, or an Iranian variant” and the installation of a „ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun, which is unfit for naval operations,” Serbin Pont said. (In 2024, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López inaugurated the Navy’s center for CM-90 missiles of Iranian origin.)
Losses and Mishaps
Adding to the concerns, several Venezuelan vessels have been lost or compromised in non-combat incidents. The patrol vessel Warao ran aground in 2012 and has not returned to service, while the patrol vessel Naiguatá sank in 2020 after colliding with the luxury cruise ship Resolute.
Coastal Deterrence: The Iranian Connection
The Navy does possess some coastal deterrence capabilities, including Peykaap III speedboats with missile-launching capabilities acquired from Iran. Photos released in 2022 also showed Iranian Fajr-1 multiple rocket launch systems installed on Damen Interceptor 1102 speedboats.
Air Power: Venezuela’s True Defense?
Ultimately, experts believe that Venezuela’s air force, not its navy, would be responsible for defending its sea against any maritime invaders.
„The new UAVs produced with Iran’s assistance may assist in defensive measures against foreign threats,” Resende theorized, but ultimately, they „are not enough to create maritime deterrence.”
Serbin Pont believes that „most anti-surface capabilities” reside in the Air Force, with Sukhoi warplanes equipped with Kh-31 missiles providing the „real deterrence power.”
Verdict: A Navy on the Brink
„I consider the Venezuelan Navy at the verge of obsolescence,” Resende concluded.
