Mr Chavez said Venezuela would receive 24 Sukhoi fighters later this year, with the option of buying more advanced models if oil finances allow.

The US recently banned arms sales to Venezuela, cutting off any chance of servicing existing F-16 fighter jets.

But Venezuela has since turned to Russia, receiving three helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

"First we are going to buy 24 Sukhoi S-30s and we are going to leave open the possibility of a future acquisition," Mr Chavez said in the country's capital, Caracas.

He spoke at a military ceremony where he received and posed with a Kalashnikov rifle.

Military build-up

Mr Chavez, who has publicly spoken of the need to upgrade Venezuela's military capabilities in the event of a US invasion, lavished praise on the Sukhoi fighters.

"An F-16 launches a missile, maximum distance: 60km (40 miles). Do you all know from what distance the Sukhoi S-30 can launch? 200km," Mr Chavez said.

"That's to say, an aircraft carrier that stops in the Caribbean. They [the US] like to stop aircraft carriers in the Caribbean to invade."

Mr Chavez has insisted that Venezuela has no plans to use its military technology offensively.

The Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30MK, the high-performance fighter being exported to India and China, consistently beat the F-15C in classified simulations, say U.S. Air Force and aerospace industry officials.

In certain circumstances, the Su-30 can use its maneuverability, enhanced by thrust-vectoring nozzles, and speed to fool the F-15's radar, fire two missiles and escape before the U.S. fighter can adequately respond. This is according to Air Force officials who have seen the results of extensive studies of multi-aircraft engagements conducted in a complex of 360-deg. simulation domes at Boeing's St. Louis facilities.

"The Su-30 tactic and the success of its escape maneuver permit the second, close-in shot, in case the BVR [beyond-visual-range] shot missed," an Air Force official said. Air Force analysts believe U.S. electronic warfare techniques are adequate to spoof the missile's radar. "That [second shot] is what causes concern to the F-15 community," he said. "Now, the Su-30 pilot is assured two shots plus an effective escape, which greatly increases the total engagement [kill percentage]."

THE SCENARIO in which the Su-30 "always" beats the F-15 involves the Sukhoi taking a shot with a BVR missile (like the AA-12 Adder) and then "turning into the clutter notch of the F-15's radar," the Air Force official said. Getting into the clutter notch where the Doppler radar is ineffective involves making a descending, right-angle turn to drop below the approaching F-15 while reducing the Su-30's relative forward speed close to zero. This is a 20-year-old air combat tactic, but the Russian fighter's maneuverability, ability to dump speed quickly and then rapidly regain acceleration allow it to execute the tactic with great effectiveness, observers said.

If the maneuver is flown correctly, the Su-30 is invisible to the F-15's Doppler radar--which depends on movement of its targets--until the U.S. fighter gets to within range of the AA-11 Archer infrared missile. The AA-11 has a high-off-boresight capability and is used in combination with a helmet-mounted sight and a modern high-speed processor that rapidly spits out the target solution.

Positioned below the F-15, the Su-30 then uses its passive infrared sensor to frame the U.S. fighter against the sky with no background clutter. The Russian fighter then takes its second shot, this time with the IR missile, and accelerates out of danger.

"It works in the simulator every time," the Air Force official said. However, he did point out that U.S. pilots are flying both aircraft in the tests. Few countries maintain a pilot corps with the air-to-air combat skills needed to fly these scenarios, said an aerospace industry official involved in stealth fighter programs.

"The USA appears destined by fate to plague America with misery in the name of liberty." Simon Bolivar, Caracas, 1819