US Use CN-235 Aircraft in Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro, Made in Spain or Indonesia?

US Air Force CN-235 96-6043 at Pope Field. (Twitter/@AshleyWallace19)

JAKARTA - The name of the CN-235 turboprop aircraft has been widely discussed, after The New York Times reported that the aircraft took part in the United States military operation in Venezuela last week.

In the operation titled "Absolute Resolve" which is said to involve 150 US military aircraft of various types, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were successfully arrested and taken to the Land of Sam.

The involvement of the CN-235, which is familiar to the Indonesian people, is certainly interesting. However, is the CN-235 used by the US in the operation really made in Indonesia?

So far, the United States military has not revealed details of the operation, including what type of aircraft was used. However. The US Air Force (USAF) does operate the CN-235 type aircraft.

Quoted from the Indomiliter.com page, the CN-235 is operated by the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), through the 427th Special Operations Squadron. One of the aircraft with an old gray paint color without using the USAF logo, but only the identification number 96-6042 on the fuselage.

Military Aviation Photographer and writer Ashley Wallace in a post on the social media X wrote that the US Air Force CN-235 96-6043 aircraft from the 427th Special Operations Squadron of the unit's base, Pope Field, North Carolina. The aircraft with the same color also does not use the USAF logo.

US Air Force CN-235 96-6043 from the 427th SOS based at Pope Field, North Carolina is seen departing RAF Mildenhall as 'RCH30' on Friday morning on its way to Poland. An incredibly rare movement at Mildenhall and incredibly interesting to see it carrying no serial number 👀 pic.twitter.com/OtlSDna2so

— Ashley Wallace (@AshleyWallace19) February 20, 2023

A number of aviation websites, such as Airliners and Planespotters, reported that the aircraft registration 96-6042, 96-6043 or 96-6049 (also without the USAF logo) are CASA CN-235M-100 aircraft belonging to the USAF. This type of aircraft is indeed included in the inventory of aircraft used by AFSOC, but it is not explained how many and what specifications are allocated.

The CN-235 aircraft is the result of a joint design (50:50) between IPTN (now PT Dirgantara Indonesia) and CASA Spain (now Airbus Defence & Space) in 1980 with the vision of the late B.J Habibie.

The CN-235 has many types of derivatives, one of which is the CN-235 100 and the CN-235 110. The CN-235 100 is a Spanish assembly, while the CN-235 110 is an Indonesian assembly, where Indonesia reportedly obtained the JAR 25 type approval from the European Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) for international certification of the CN-235 110 in 1995, quoted from Flight Global (9 August 1995).

During Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela, Indomiliter said the US military's CN-235 aircraft served as a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) platform, which was said to have intercepted Venezuelan military communications and enabled US special forces on the ground, Delta Force, to know the exact location of the target in real time.

Although not made in Indonesia, the CN-235 belonging to the US Air Force has Indonesian DNA.