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ARV General Soublette and ARV General Salom on 1 January 1986
History
Venezuela
Name	General Soublette
Namesake	General Soublette
Ordered	1975
Builder	Fincantieri, Riva Trigoso
Laid down	26 August 1978
Launched	4 January 1980
Commissioned	5 December 1981
Home port	Puerto Cabello
Identification	Pennant number: F-24
Status	Decommissioned
General characteristics
Class & type	Mariscal Sucre-class frigate
Displacement	2.506 t (2.466 long tons) full load
Length	113.2 m (371 ft) LOA
Beam	11.3 m (37 ft)
Draft	3.7 m (12 ft)
Propulsion	- CODOG scheme - 2 x shaft - 2 x GE / Fiat LM2500 gas turbines 50,000 shp (37,000 kW) - 2 x diesel engines Grandi Motori Trieste GMT A230-20 diesel engines 7,800 shp (5.8 MW) - 4 x diesel engine generators Grandi Motori Trieste GMT 236SS, 3,000 kW (4,000 shp)
Speed	35 kn (65 km/h) with gas turbines 21 kn (39 km/h) with diesels
Range	4,300 nmi (8,000 km) at 16 kn (30 km/h)
Complement	185 (20 officers)
Sensors & processing systems	- Selenia SADOC 2 combat management system - 1 x Selenia SPS-774 (RAN-10S) early warning radar - 1 x Selenia SPQ-2F CORA OTH surface search radar - 1 x Selenia SPS-702 (or RAN-11L/X) air/surface search radar - 1 x Selenia SPG-70 (RTN-10X) fire control radar - 1 x Raytheon Mk 95 fire control radar - 2 x Selenia SPG-74 (RTN-20X) fire control radar - 1 x GEM Elettronica AN/SPN-748 navigation radar - Raytheon DE 1160B (SQS-56) hull sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	- SLR-4 ESM system - SLQ-D ECM system - AN/SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo decoy - 2 x Breda SCLAR decoy launchers
Armament	- 8 x Otomat Mk 2 SSMs - 1 x Mk.29 octuple launcher for Sea Sparrow/Aspide SAM - 2 x Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes - 1 x OTO Melara 127/54 mm gun - 2 x OTO Melara Twin 40L70 DARDO compact gun
Aircraft carried	1 AB-212ASW helicopter
Aviation facilities	Flight deck: 25.2 m × 11.3 m (83 ft × 37 ft) Telescopic hangar for 1 medium helicopter.

ARV General Soublette (F-24) was the fourth ship of the Mariscal Sucre-class frigate of the Venezuelan Navy.

Development and design

Main article: Mariscal Sucre-class frigate

Venezuela ordered six Lupo-class frigates from CNR in 1975 as a replacement for older warships. These units were commissioned between 1980 and 1982. In general terms, their appearance and equipment is similar to those built for Peru, except for some differences in electronics and missiles. The first two ships, ARV Mariscal Sucre (F-21) and ARV Almirante Brión (F-22) were upgraded by Ingalls Shipbuilding over a four years period (1998–2002). The other ships in Venezuelan service were expected to undergo an austere version of this upgrade, but three ships were eventually taken out of service.

Construction and career

General Soublette was laid down on 26 August 1978 and launched on 4 January 1980 by Fincantieri at Riva Trigoso. She was commissioned on 5 December 1981.

Over the years she has participated in multiple important naval exercises and has been the flagship of the multinational UNITAS exercise.

With the change of name of the Venezuelan naval force, the unit prefix changed from ARV (Armada de la República de Venezuela) to AB (Armada Bolivariana).

Bibliography

• Scheina, Robert L. & Smigielski, Adam (1995). "Venezuela". In Chumbley, Stephen (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1947–1995 (revised ed.). Naval Institute Press. pp. 635–637. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.