Yesterday Venezuelan President Maduro presented this “new” system of drones built under a cooperation agreement with Iran which was hailed as capable of “counter acting any threat…so that the Fatherland is never violated…evidence that Venezuela is advancing in technology for military purposes”
The presentation also included “the launching of a test of an unmanned flight”, which according to the article was hailed by Maduro as “the bases for our the aeronautical industry of the future that we must have”
Well, I am not sure who was fooling who here. It was either Iran fooling Venezuela or the military fooling (or laughing?) at Maduro. This project, under the cooperation agreement signed in 2006 with Iran, took seven years to do what any model airplane club or kid in Caracas could have done ten or twenty years ago.
Because what you see above, is nothing but a large model airplane, comparable to the largest ones that Venezuelan model airplanes fans and their associations build. And in Venezuela there are quite a few of them.
And the Iranian “technology” and what is the basis of our country’s future aeronautical industry can be purchased at Amazon or any RC hobby store for a couple of hundred bucks, as can be seen in the picture below, where we can see the so called “drone” and its radio control.
and in the red circle, you can see the sophisticated technology, basis for our technological future, shown here blown up (even if fuzzy):
which anyone that has ever seen fly or flown an RC model airplane can recognize is an off the shelf RC radio system available at any RC store, hobby store and even Amazon for about US$ 100. Something like this model, taken from this page:
There are so many models, it is difficult to determine exactly which model it is simply from the picture.But all we can say is that Venezuelan military and aeronautical “technology” is all simply kid’s stuff. The only question is who is ripping off who. Somehow, I think it was Maduro whose good faith and ignorance was take advantage of.
It is truly sad that a country that 40 or 50 years ago had frontier science and technology, has now such ignorant leaders, that they think that model airplanes, Chinese satellites and Portuguese computers have any thing to do with the technological and scientific future of the country.
The worst part is that the Bolivarian scientific “leadership” will simply remain quiet about all this.
What a pitiful revolution!
The Devil's Excrement 
June 25, 2013 at 12:48 pm
from der spiegel –
German officials on Tuesday targeted two men suspected of planning to carry out terrorist attacks using remote-controlled model airplanes. The pair is thought to be influenced by radical Islam, but are not considered to be members of a terror group.
June 12, 2013 at 8:49 pm
[…] Venezuelan Military “Technology”: It’s All Kid’s Stuff […]
June 7, 2013 at 1:41 pm
Bariven/PDVSA is not paying its bills. Again.
June 2, 2013 at 7:30 pm
i wonder if they also created apps for Iphone/android to control the “drone” from a phone. They didn’t even bother to cosmetically make up the Futaba transmitter. You can actually attach them to laptops – if only to make it look cooler.
June 2, 2013 at 5:57 pm
Thanks a bunch for posting this – just priceless!
Bolivarian Republic becomes Banana Republic!
June 2, 2013 at 8:07 am
OT: The Venezuelan Central Bank blames Chavez’s death for economic troubles… and obviously sees nothing wrong with that. Sheesh…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/31/venezuela-economy-idUSL2N0EC0M920130531
June 2, 2013 at 2:13 pm
I have always thought that being competent in something should be a prerequisite for political office.
June 2, 2013 at 5:58 pm
As I look around the world stage, I know that’s not necessarily so: Maduro, Mugabe, Kim, Berlusconi, … I could go on ………..
June 1, 2013 at 9:06 pm
Off the bat the done deal between Iran and VE raises questions and eyebrows. I think the Iranian outfit providing the drones is sanctioned and this is test of gringo-western wherewithal on some levels. This is a very troubling relationship for the American military and the venecubans sure do like to keep us wondering. One thing for sure , all options still available for now.
June 2, 2013 at 11:45 am
If this was a “very troubling relationship”, there would be a carrier group vacationing north of Los Roques. Iran’s or Venezuela’s involvement in any type of “troubling” technology is nothing more troubling than a glimpse at the Sunday comics section of the newspaper. Good for a laugh and then on to the recycle bin.
June 1, 2013 at 8:54 pm
During the last election and the Commander’s final days, they started flying a quadcopter with a GoPro camera. The red crowds where amazed by this new technology. So was I since it was a brand new model at the time.
http://provideocoalition.com/jfoster/story/product-review-dji-phantom-quadcopter-for-gopro
June 1, 2013 at 8:15 pm
What do you suppose Maduro’s education covered? Physics? Hardly. Unlikely he knows simple arithmetic.
What I see happening is a complete disconnect between the government, who are running on oil money and bullshit, and the real economy. The people are making their own moves to protect themselves. I know I am.
June 1, 2013 at 7:45 am
Lo que más me disgusta el asunto es la cantidad de dinero que se perdió y que se hubiese podido usar en comprar libros de matemáticas, física, castellano, biología para los carajitos de primaria y secundaria de Los Guayos, de Punto Fijo, del 23 de Enero, de Calabozo.
Son unos desvergonzados increíbles.
May 31, 2013 at 11:01 pm
OT latest shortage http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/31/unbelievable-venezuela-shortages-move-far-beyond-just-toilet-paper/
May 31, 2013 at 4:48 pm
Doesn’t the fake Venezuelan Government realize that Iran is already the laughing stock of the aviation world for trying to pawn off a embarrassingly phony, plastic, 3/4 size mock-up of a bogus stealth fighter to the world?
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/02/iran-new-stealth-fighter-jet-fake/61781/
If showing the world a badly made toy with wires dangling in a too small cockpit wasn’t bad enough, they had to use a Photoshopped picture they already used once before to phony up a fake flight over a mountain range.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2277412/Fake-stealth-plane-Irans-Photoshopped-fighter-jet-spotted-air.html
The question now becomes how much did Venezuela pay Iran for this embarrassment of supposed technology. I haven’t had physics in over forty years, but when I look at the proportions, weight distribution, and wing size/width of this thing, I see something an aircraft was built with all the real life flight capability of the Starship Enterprise.
May 31, 2013 at 4:09 pm
My take is Maduro is pandering to the masses (his dwindling base of followers, that is) in the same style Chavez did. He’s just copying a model that, in his view, worked well for his late master: every once in a while make big project announcements, even better if they’re related to an invented threat (“el imperio”, etc., etc.). He, also like his late master, doesn’t have to follow through, and the project doesn’t have to make sense either in the technical field nor in its finances. That’s not the point. The point is the announcement itself. The camera and airwaves time is what matters.
Moreover, to me this is a sign (and so here goes my own theory) in their view, now that Globovision is out, any small threat the opposition may have represented right after the last elections is now finished, and so the government will switch gears and monopolize air time making dummy grand announcements.
May 31, 2013 at 4:18 pm
It is hard to pander to the masses about silly model airplanes and 1970’s obsolete missiles when they don’t have enough food to eat or paper to wipe their ass if they did. You are right that he is trying to play chavez, but I think in this case these diversions from the daily problems will backfire. His base is dwindling with every cadena.
May 31, 2013 at 2:20 pm
Here is link to the cutting edge ones http://accessintelligence.imirus.com/Mpowered/book/vup13/i1/p0
Considering that one of the other Iranian deals was for tractors which Argentina and Brazil also make, we know, by the corn crop, that did not work either. The excuse, I suppose, is that they did not come with the corn planter attachment! Iranian burkas don’t seem to be doing well either!
May 31, 2013 at 11:43 am
Maduro deserves credit for making sure that everyone the world over with media access has had the opportunity to laugh at Venezuela. He and chavez combined have put more smiles on faces (outside of Venezuela) than Hallmark cards. Cudos.
May 31, 2013 at 5:02 pm
Laughing stock? The following quote is making its way around press rooms the world over. TODAY!
“quote” ….Further, he made serious accusations about an alleged conspiracy intended to murder him. “Álvaro Uribe, Roger Noriega and J.J. Rendón are behind a plan of psychological warfare,” he reported.
“There is a group of experts who have a poison. They are prepared to come to Venezuela to inoculate me with poison, not for me to die in a day, but for me to get sick in the months to come. Should I remain quiet? I have to report on this and face it,” he said.” “unquote”
Poison? Really? This guy is certifiable.
Yes, Nicolas, take your poison and shut the f up!
June 1, 2013 at 10:47 am
Even more insanity today…
(quote)President Nicolás Maduro said late on Friday that the Venezuelan government is assessing the means to reset relations with Colombia. “There must be reciprocity and communication, just the way it was before many of you (Colombians) believed you could enter and conquer Caracas.”
(unquote)
Conquer? The Colombians?
Like they’re all sitting around the coffee shops in Bogota plotting the takeover of Venezuela. Really? Hey Nicolas! ..you’re already providing half of Colombia with discounted gasoline, why would they want to bother with a silly invasion? Finally, the BBC has a report out TODAY (Saturday) where Santo’s calls Maduro ‘crazy.’ Loco! That story is making its way around the world. What a freaking chucklehead….
May 31, 2013 at 11:02 am
Yes Iran. The same Iran that brought down the top secret US sentinel drone using a flying saucer and tractor beams.
May 31, 2013 at 10:45 am
Are you aware that you are looking at two different model-planes? The first one is not the same one as the second model-plane shown in your article.
May 31, 2013 at 11:03 am
Yes, they say they have built five and showed two in the exhibit.
May 31, 2013 at 10:35 am
Back in the 70’s where Plaza Las Americas Mall is, used to be an empty lot that folks would go to fly their RC planes, mostly on Sundays.
My cousin would go to a street in Los Pomelos, above the field, and using his own RC control unit he would take over any airplane that had the same crystal he did and then drive the owner crazy with his acrobatics. He was a good pilot but there were a few “incidents” wherein the plane did not quite finish well…..
He had a collection of crystals he could swap in and out of his RC unit, all he had to do was keep swapping until he found one that corresponded.
I bet you could do the same with our new drones!!!
May 31, 2013 at 4:26 pm
You’re exactly right–and people can steal planes the same way.
May 31, 2013 at 10:34 am
Iran is noted for creating fake weapons and publicizing them as the real thing. Guess Maduro has some Iranian handlers as well as Cuban handlers.
May 31, 2013 at 8:16 am
For $2,500 the Venezuelan military could leap frog its own technology and show off a full replica of an Air Bus, including retractable wheels, brakes and the like:
http://www.amazon.com/Control-Electric-A340-300-Complete-Package/dp/B007Q2U1X6/ref=sr_1_2?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1369959334&sr=1-2&keywords=rc+radio+airplane+control
Maybe they would be interested in a gold mine I am selling.
May 31, 2013 at 12:23 pm
I fear for the Empire if the FAN joins, http://www.tripoli.org.
May 31, 2013 at 8:11 am
This is a real joke, a real rip off for Venezuelans, these things can’t do anything, you would need thousands of them to do anything useful as those remote controls have typically use the same frequency as your home wireless handheld which is never more than a few hundred meters. Venezuela drops more and more into the abyss of mediocrity and lies, a country led by ignorant clowns.
May 31, 2013 at 8:06 am
Someone needs to contact Aljazeera and help them get the real picture of Venezuela. They were reporting that Chavez had made things better for everyone in the country. We are unable to see that as the truth. Now that Aljazeera has a foot into the US, they seem to be rather objective in their reporting. S.
May 31, 2013 at 6:26 am
I would not be surprised to see these used to look out for GN patrols rather than drug smuggling :). That is, if anyone actually patrols at all.
May 31, 2013 at 12:04 am
kind of embarassing huh? 🙂 sort of like all that hugely expensive and outdated russian military equipment El Mucho Macho bought that is so easily destroyed (Desert Storm). Columbia, and probably Guyana for that matter, could still kick your ass.
May 31, 2013 at 10:29 am
Columbia University can kick our ass?
Their ROTC program must be top notch.
Perhaps you meant COLOMBIA?
May 31, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Spelling doesn’t count here–and this is a VERY common mistake.
June 1, 2013 at 7:46 pm
Fine Ira, I realize that in the UNTIED States spelling is not important. I am sure Colombians do care how it is spelled.
But spelling country names DOES matter, it’s basic courtesy, especially in a blog that is about NON U.S. matters and has readers from all over, including COLOMBIA
My 2 Lochas
May 30, 2013 at 11:48 pm
This whole charade began with Chavez and his obsession to build a relation with Iran just to feel he can piss off the Americans…
May 30, 2013 at 11:11 pm
This is very funny indeed. I own 3 RC planes and I can assure this is a “Futaba” brand radio control (made in Japan). See link below.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXSFY3&P=SM
Yes, they can be considered drones as they are unmanned flights. The funny thing is that you can fly with these little planes as much as you can see them, so no more than 500ft. These radios are short range and don’t fly more than 20 mins. In fact I have seen much nicer RC planes bigger than what they show in the picture. Maduro’s drone does not seem to have any tech gadget or any weaponry payload, so I wonder what they are useful for.
May 31, 2013 at 4:39 am
With GPS and a camera system, you don’t need to see the plane to keep flying. What I find so ridiculous is what do they think they’re going to see flying over the jungle, that Chavista sentries strategically placed, with simple cell phones, couldn’t communicate to the military immediately anyway?
And FYI–the Israelis invented observation drones in the 70s. Just basically oversized RC planes with cameras. And no need to properly land to avoid damage:
They flew them home into huge nets stretched across the “airfield.”
I flew RC planes too, in the 80s–but I did more crashing than actual flying! An expensive hobby, because it takes real skill to fly these things!
May 31, 2013 at 6:32 pm
You mean they wouldn’t even splurge on the $99 model (Futaba is &$79) 😉
June 1, 2013 at 2:11 am
I don’t even own any planes, although I live near a large area where enthusiasts fly them, and even I recognized a Futaba controller when I saw the grainy picture.
*sigh* Technology advances from the 80s for the win.
http://www.amazon.com/Futaba-FASST-Airplane-Radio-Servos/dp/B0015UM7R8/ref=sr_1_16?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1370070289&sr=1-16&keywords=rc+airplanes