Israel Not Concerned Over F-16 Transfer

Reports of Venezuela's transfer of an F-16 to Iran are not causing concern in Israel – at least for now. Israeli sources say the aircraft is very old, has old systems, and will not give Iran an indication as to the capabilities of IAF aircraft.


Israeli sources say that the F-16 aircraft used by Venezuela's air force is equipped with old generation Electronic Warfare (EW) systems. As such, the transfer of the aircraft, which will be given to Iran, will not give the Iranians any indications as to the capabilities of newer generations of F-16 aircraft, such as the Israeli Air Force’s F-16 Sufa (Storm).

Iran’s intent is to examine the aircraft against its defense systems. According to reports, the EW systems equipped on the aircraft that was transferred is considered to be very old. According to one expert, “systems are not updated regularly. Due to its stances and the disconnect in relations between Venezuela and the US, it hasn’t received such updates in many years, and so the system onboard the aircraft is very old and irrelevant.”


Foreign media reported last week that Venezuela had transferred at least one F-16 aircraft to Iran in order to help it prepare its defense systems for a potential Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities. According to Western intelligence sources, the aircraft was dismantled and loaded onboard a 707 aircraft that flew it to an Iranian airbase. The aircraft was assembled there and will serve for what is being called the "calibration" of the Iranian radar systems against the common aircraft, which is also used by the IAF.

The defense cooperation between Caracas and Tehran has strengthened over the past year, and it seems that this is the background for the transfer of the aircraft. Venezuela’s President, Hugo Chavez, threatened to sell 20 of the Venezuelan Air Force’s F-16 aircraft to Iran in 2006 in a deal that never materialized.