In face of US 'threat,' how does Venezuela's military stack up?

With an ill-disciplined military and an outdated arsenal, Venezuela would be at a serious disadvantage in the event of an American invasion, experts say.

President Nicolas Maduro has declared his country prepared for "a period of armed struggle in defense of the national territory" in the eventuality -- widely deemed unlikely -- of a US attack.

But defeating the world's mightiest military would be an "impossible" endeavor, said a retired Venezuelan general who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity amid rising tension caused by a US deployment of warships in the south Caribbean.

The economicaly troubled South American country has a ragtag collection of Russian fighter jets, Iranian drones, old French tanks and a German submarine, as well as an estimated 340,000-odd men and women in arms