They still make the Kfir? O_O
wow......lol
Interesting news, Steven, thanks! 
Read my post.
Question: Whats going on between Colombia and Venezuela?
Nothing, apart from some political bickering. Socialist-democratic elected president Chavez has a problem with Colombia's government and it's way of doing things. However, Colombia's government is on the side of Washington, and if I recall correctly was actually installed by Washington as a model of democracy for South America, while actually it is far from it. Now Chavez has nothing against the Colombian people, only its government, or at least its president, especially after the latest hostage crises. He would like to see Colombia (and other South American countries) to follow the example he set in Venezuela (not by Venezuela's military force, but by the countries' own population thru the democratic proces) of course such talk isn't well received by capitalist/autocrat governments, nor does Washington like this stuff going on in its backyard. It lost political control over Venezuela, but still needs it for oil, ouch. Anyway, this is all politics, so look it up, it ranges from nasty/dirty facts to purely propaganda/talk. I'm not a Chavez supporter or anything, I can understand his beliefs a bit though.
Very informative posts and excellent points guys!
I didn't know that Colombia already used Kfirs and it definitely makes sense now. Colombia's tight budget definitely makes things more difficult for them in terms of matching up to Venezuela's arsenal. Would you foresee that the latter's superiority (at least when we are strictly talking about air forces) is going to lead to instability in the region or possibly an arms race that might force Colombia to increase its spending?
Well, no, not because of Venezuela's spending on air force equipment directly, but by the differences in political views/aims of the governments in power. Venezuela has always had a powerful air force, it needs to replace all US types now, because of the US embargo. Thanks to rising oil/gas revenues it can buy new equipment, while many others can't or at least not the same extend because all their natural resources money goes to foreign countries. However, because of US concern over Venezuela's political posture, they might revise their plan to keep military aid limited to the war on drugs / counter insurgency, and start supplying serious hardware (it's possible though that they financed this Kfir order anyway). Then you'll have an arms race, because Venezuela will just buy more. I'm not an expert on Latin America, but Colombia would be foolish to try to match Venezuela in air force terms, as it would eat away what little social system there is. And I think it's more concerned about a possible insurgency aided politically/financially by Venezuela, rather than having to counter the FAV. And then there's Ecuador of course. I don't know if they would be backed by Venezuela when border clashes with Colombia start flaring up again, but I'd guess no.
Israel's Kfir's saw a little action in 1982 war
More recently is the Kfir action in the Peru-Ecuador clashes, and the use of them by Sri Lanka against the Tamil Tigers.
Aparently the rust is due to the humid/warm coastal (salt) climate, so yes on brand new airframes. General Dynamics tested for this before delivering the F-16. IAPO didn't, so they probably had to clean up and apply different coatings. I don't have details, may have been small, they're flying again now. I know about the MiG-29SE models, however I'm not sure if the 'live' Adders were actually delivered, but admittedly I was only considering Flanker users. Let's do the rest of the missile talk in the respective forum.
I think if Ecuador slips more toward Venezuela Kfir's won't go through and the FARC holding the French people for so long I don't think Ecuador's going to get French if Ecuador's slides Chavez way. Isn't that the reason for the French not selling to Venezuela in the first place? Last I heard that Ecuador's Mirage F1-C/E were already in storage from lack of funds and only a handful of Kfir's are operational. I use to know a guy from Ecuador and from Peru but both don't post anymore. They were helpful but sadly just dropped off the net.
Uhm, I don't think French politics regarding Ecuador is in any way effected by the FARC hostage situation. French not selling to Venezuela was because of Washington pressure I suppose. Anyway Chavez found a good partner in Putin, and he happened to have top of the line 'cheap' helicopters and fighters. Anyway, Venezuela plans to buy more French helicopters, and frankly I haven't seen France opposing it yet?
I remember seeing it somewhere where Israel made 65 Kfir's or some high number being in held storage. Sri Lanka bought (7) of them and one or two crashed and Sri Lanka's AF like the Mig-27s better and they cost less. I think I read they get Mig-27s from Ukraine for just under $3 million per some commander wrote after one of the Tiger attacks that he wished he had more Mig-27s.
They bought some more though, I believe after early losses they had 14, not sure what happened more recently. But you're probably right about the MiG-27s, just compare the wage of an Israeli technician working for IAI, with a Ukrainian one working at a former state repair plant. Of course, the MiG-27 has a laser range finder which is far more useful than a multi-mode radar when striking rebel positions, even without it I can see the MiG-27 being a far better bombing platform than a Mirage III derivative. And I think they've support from HAL for the MiG-27s, whose rates are probably better than IAI's. It doesn't make the Kfirs less of an asset though for other duties.
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