The acquisition was revealed on Sept. 25 by the Venezuelan Navy (formally known as the Armada Bolivariana de Venezuela). Footage of one
test firing is now being used in propaganda videos posted online,
including by Maduro’s official Twitter account (in Spanish).
The video footage is not actually of a Venezuelan Navy ship. It is taken from a Royal Thai Navy test launch of the C-802A missile. That
launch, from the Thai Navy’s frigate HTMS Kraburi, can be viewed on
YouTube.
But this does not mean that China has not supplied the system. Misleading images are part and parcel of Venezuelan Navy propaganda. For
example, the same video shows a Venezuelan Type-209 submarine, when in
fact their boats have not been to sea in years. But the lack of images
of it aboard a Venezuelan Navy ship does suggest that they have not yet
equipped their own ships with the missile.According to open sources, the
missiles are likely to equip Venezuela’s Guaiquerí-class patrol boats.
These are Spanish built Avante 2200 combatants and were delivered
without anti-ship missiles. This makes sense because in June 2017 the
Venezuelan Navy was taking steps to equip two unspecified offshore
patrol vessels with the missile at the sum of $2.9 million. The
Venezuelan Navy has three Guaiquerí class ships, so it is possible that
one will be left without missiles.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s two remaining Italian built Lupo-class frigates are fitted for Otomat Mk 2 missiles, as are some missile boats.
The Lupos are the most capable warships in the Venezuelan lineup, but
are increasingly dated. The other modern warship, the Guaicamacuto-class
patrol boats, are optimized for littoral operations and do not have a
missile armament. It was one of these ships, Naiguatá (GC-23), which was
lost on March 23, 2020. She was attempting to stop the ice-hardened
cruise liner RCGS Resolute when the two ships collided. The warship lost
the encounter and sank. RCGS Resolute suffered some scratches.
