AVWEEK: U.S. Operation In Venezuela Shifts Defense Narrative

AVIATION WEEK:

The U.S. military action to snatch Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from inside a heavily guarded compound marked the culmination of decades of honing airborne special operations, with implications beyond the immediate mission.

Days after the nighttime raid, the U.S. boarded ships in the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic, underscoring the Trump administration’s plan to exert more control over the region.

The U.S. military action to snatch Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from inside a heavily guarded compound marked the culmination of decades of honing airborne special operations, with implications beyond the immediate mission.

Days after the nighttime raid, the U.S. boarded ships in the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic, underscoring the Trump administration’s plan to exert more control over the region.

The initial operation unfolded over less than 5 hr., after U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead at 10:46 p.m. EST Jan. 2. U.S. Army special operations helicopters, including Sikorsky MH-60 Black Hawks and Boeing MH-47 Chinooks, were backed by more than 150 combat and support aircraft including Lockheed Martin F-22s and F-35s, Boeing F/A-18s, EA-18s, B-1 bombers and a host of uncrewed aircraft. The secretive Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel appeared to be operating from Puerto Rico, along with many of the fighters and other assets.

All this, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said, came together “in time and place to layer effects for a single purpose: to get an interdiction force into downtown Caracas while maintaining the element of tactical surprise.”

Caine said the mission, called Operation Absolute Resolve, was approved weeks before but was waiting for a confluence of events to be executed. It built on decades of counterterrorism operations, he added. The U.S. had begun deploying ships and aircraft to the region in the late summer.

After Trump’s go-ahead, assets launched from 20 locations, Caine said. U.S. Army special operations and attack helicopters flew across the Caribbean Sea as low as 100 ft. above the water. Caine said the aircraft “maintained totally” an element of surprise until the helicopters arrived at the compound to capture Maduro at 1:01 a.m. EST.

The helicopters took fire; one was hit and sustained damage but was still able to fly and complete the mission, Caine said. The helicopters responded with “overwhelming force,” he noted. By 3:29 a.m. EST, the raiding party was back over the water to take Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to the USS Iwo Jima amphibious assault vessel.

Central to the operation was the U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) unit, set up in the wake of the disastrous Iran hostage rescue mission in 1980 known as Operation Eagle Claw. The secretive unit has since taken part in various operations, including the effort to depose Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega that ended in his surrender in January 1990, as well as the ill-fated 1993 mission to catch Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in which several unit members died. The unit was heavily involved in Afghanistan starting in 2001, culminating in the 2011 raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden.

The implications of the raid on Caracas go far beyond Venezuela. Russia’s war in Ukraine had put into doubt the viability of helicopter operations on the modern battlefield because of the proliferation of man-portable surface-to-air missiles, other air defenses and explosive-laden loitering drones.

However, the U.S. action in Venezuela demonstrates that an effective helicopter raid into contested environments remains possible when combined with effective airpower and air defense suppression.

The U.S. mission also raises questions about Russian and Chinese military equipment critical to Venezuela’s defenses. Only weeks earlier, standing before state TV cameras on Oct. 2 in Caracas, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino exuded confidence even as U.S. naval, air and special forces massed in the Caribbean region, aimed squarely at his country.

On that autumn day, Venezuelan air defense radars—including some of China’s and Russia’s most advanced systems—had detected stealthy F-35Bs about 46 mi. north of the country’s coastline, he said, noting that they were flying at 35,000 ft. and 400 kt.

“We are watching you,” Padrino added. “And I want you to know that this does not intimidate us.”

The U.S. raid also came less than two months after the Venezuelan Air Force flexed its capabilities. Outsiders had speculated that the service’s aging fleet of U.S.-supplied Lockheed F-16A/Bs and more recently acquired Sukhoi Su-30MK2 fighters could no longer pass an airworthiness evaluation. But Venezuela deployed detachments of both fighters to La Orchila Island, 160 mi. north of Caracas, on Nov. 14. The Su-30MK2s were observed carrying Kh-31A anti-ship missiles over the Caribbean, even as the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group operated there.

But Venezuela’s Air Force, still considered among the most capable in Latin America despite its age, proved no match for the U.S. aerial strike package. Outmatched in almost all respects against F-22s and F-35s, the Venezuelan fighters could have challenged the U.S. intruders in the sky with their Russian air-to-air missiles or threatened the raid’s enabling support ships at sea with Russian or Iranian anti-ship missiles. There is no evidence that Venezuelan fighters scrambled during the event.

On the ground, Venezuela’s largely Chinese- and Russian-supplied equipment also failed to react. In video clips posted on social media, a single, arcing streak of flame from the ground to the air signaled the launch of a man-portable air defense missile—perhaps one of the 5,000 Igla missiles and launchers that Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, ordered from Russia two decades ago. But there was no sign of Venezuela’s surface-to-air missile systems, which include Russian mobile S-300s and Buk-M2s. Caine said that U.S. cyber and space systems helped neutralize Venezuela’s air defense threat. The strike package also included radar-jamming and destroying EA-18Gs.

“Seems those Russian air defenses didn’t quite work so well, did they?” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quipped Jan. 5.

The raid marked another setback for Moscow’s reputation as an arms supplier. Last year, Israel meticulously took down Iran’s air defenses, which were built around Russian equipment.

It is possible to make too much out of the results of the raid based on public data. Venezuela acquired China’s vaunted JY-27A counter-stealth radar in 2019 exactly to deter this sort of attack. China’s export rules could degrade the capability released to export customers. In any event, Beijing rolled out the latest domestic version, dubbed the JY-27V, in May 2025. Venezuela’s air defense operators may not be proficient with it—or perhaps they merely decided that discretion is the better part of valor in the face of overwhelming U.S. airpower.

During a press conference at Mar-A-Lago on Jan. 3, Trump said the U.S. military was poised for another, larger round of strikes if needed.

The U.S. followed the operation on Jan. 7 with the seizure of the M/V Bella 1 oil tanker—renamed and re-flagged as a Russian vessel while at sea—in the North Atlantic. That seizure involved at least one Army special operations Boeing MH-6 Little Bird helicopter, according to images provided to Russian news outlet RT. It appears the MH-6 operated from a U.S. Coast Guard cutter that had been shadowing the SHOP,

BREAKING - In a stunning midnight raid, U.S. forces capture Nicolás Maduro

U.S. Forces Capture Venezuelan President Maduro

President Trump announced that U.S. forces had conducted a large-scale strike in Venezuela, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Flores, and were transporting them to New York to face drug and weapons charges.

Trump said the United States would govern Venezuela “until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” He provided few details on how the country would be administered, saying only that it would be overseen by “a group,” and added that he was not opposed to deploying “boots on the ground.”

According to people briefed on the operation, American special operations forces captured Maduro with the help of a C.I.A. source within the Venezuelan government who had tracked his location in recent days. Trump said in a Fox News interview that Maduro and Flores were taken aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, a U.S. warship operating in the Caribbean, before being flown to New York.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military mission—named “Absolute Resolve”—was launched at the request of the Justice Department. Caine said U.S. warplanes disabled Venezuelan air defenses, allowing helicopters to enter Caracas, and that one aircraft was struck but remained operational. The operation involved 150 aircraft launched across the hemisphere, one of the most detailed accounts the U.S. government has released.

“He continued, ‘Overhead, the forces were safeguarded by aircraft from the United States Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Air National Guard. The aerial lineup included F-22s, F-35s, F-18s, EA-18s, E-2s, B-1 bombers, and other support aircraft, along with numerous remotely piloted drones.’”

Trump said the Venezuelan military “knew we were coming” and was swiftly overwhelmed. He said no American service members were killed, although he had earlier suggested there were casualties.

The operation began in the pre-dawn hours around 2 a.m., with multiple explosions reported in Caracas and surrounding areas. Residents saw low-flying aircraft, marking the start of what officials called kinetic operations. By 4:17 a.m., Trump announced on social media that Maduro and his wife had been captured and flown out of the country.

Trump described Maduro as “highly guarded” in a presidential palace “like a fortress,” though he never reached a safe room. U.S. forces were equipped with “massive blowtorches” to cut through steel walls if necessary. “It had what they call a safety space, where it’s solid steel all around,” Trump said. “He didn’t get that space closed. He was trying to get into it, but he got bum-rushed so fast that he didn’t make it. We were prepared.”

“Caine said, ‘We arrived at Maduro’s compound at 1:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, or 2:01 a.m. local time in Caracas. The apprehension team moved into the compound with speed, precision, and discipline, securing the area to ensure the safety of the ground force while apprehending the indicted individuals.

“He added, ‘Upon entering the target area, the helicopters came under fire and returned it with overwhelming force in self-defense. One aircraft was hit but remained flyable. As the president noted earlier, all aircraft returned safely, and the damaged aircraft stayed operational for the remainder of the mission.’

Caine told reporters that Maduro and his wife then surrendered and were taken into custody by the Justice Department, with no U.S. personnel casualties.

‘After securing the indicted individuals, the force prepared to depart. Helicopters were called in to extract the team, while fighter jets and remotely piloted aircraft provided overhead coverage and suppressive fire. Multiple self-defense engagements occurred as the force withdrew from Venezuela,’ he added.”

Preparation included practicing maneuvers on a full-scale replica of the building. “They actually built a house identical to the one they went into,” Trump added.

The operation took place in darkness, with Trump claiming that almost all the lights in Caracas were turned off. “This thing was so organized. They went into a dark space with machine guns facing them all over the place,” he said. At least seven explosions were reported, and the entire attack lasted less than 30 minutes.

Trump said a few U.S. personnel were injured during the operation, but he believed no one was killed. “A couple of guys were hit, but they came back and they’re supposed to be in pretty good shape,” he said. He added that no aircraft were lost, though one helicopter was “hit pretty hard.” “We had to do it because it’s a war,” Trump said.

Weather delayed the mission
Trump said the operation had been postponed for several days while waiting for cloud cover to clear. “The weather has to be perfect. We waited four days… and then all of a sudden it opened up and we said, go. It was just amazing,” he said.

Maduro’s current location
Trump said Maduro and Flores were flown by helicopter to a U.S. warship before being transported to New York to face charges. The Justice Department released an indictment accusing the pair of an alleged role in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

Months of escalating actions
The raid marked a significant escalation from a series of U.S. strikes on vessels accused of transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. At least 35 strikes had been carried out, reportedly killing 115 people. On Dec. 29, Trump said the U.S. struck a facility where drug-laden boats were loaded, with the CIA conducting a drone strike at a docking area allegedly used by Venezuelan drug cartels. This was the first known direct U.S. operation on Venezuelan soil since the strikes began in September..

Air Force wants "Super B-1s" as a lead up the B-21.

The U.S. Air Force is moving forward with another phase of modernization for its B-1B Lancer bomber fleet, building on upgrades completed in 2020 under the Integrated Battle Station program and subsequent weapons and survivability improvements. The goal is to keep the aircraft viable into the 2030s as the B-21 Raider gradually enters service.

First delivered in the 1980s, the B-1B is a supersonic, long-range heavy bomber originally designed for nuclear missions before being repurposed for conventional strike roles following Cold War arms control agreements.

Today, approximately 45 B-1Bs remain in service, down from the original fleet of 100 aircraft. The Air Force plans for the B-21 to replace the Lancer over the next decade, but the transition will be gradual, requiring the B-1B to remain operational in the interim.

Current modernization efforts focus on expanded weapons integration, upgraded communications, improved defensive avionics, and structural life-extension work. These upgrades are intended to preserve the bomber’s relevance in increasingly contested environments while the Air Force transitions to its next-generation bomber force.

At the same time, the Air Force plans to acquire roughly 100 B-21 Raiders—stealth bombers designed to penetrate advanced air defense systems operated by peer adversaries.

This raises a fundamental question: does continued investment in an aging, non-stealth platform make strategic sense as modern air defenses grow more capable, or would resources be better spent accelerating and expanding B-21 procurement?
What the B-1B Upgrade Includes—and Why the Air Force Says It’s Needed

The B-1B modernization effort is intended to reduce capability gaps during the transition period before the B-21 reaches operational scale. A key element of the upgrade is the integration of external heavy-stores pylons, which significantly expand the bomber’s weapons-carrying capacity. This allows the B-1B to employ a wider range of stand-off munitions and potentially future hypersonic weapons, reinforcing its role as a long-range strike platform despite its age.

At the same time, the Air Force has fielded upgraded defensive avionics, integrated advanced data links, and modernized identification systems to improve the B-1B’s ability to operate within joint and coalition networks.

These enhancements have been paired with sustainment efforts, including the return of aircraft from the boneyard, to meet congressionally mandated fleet-size requirements.

Air Force planners argue the upgrades are essential: without them, the B-1B’s effectiveness against increasingly sophisticated enemy air defenses would steadily decline.

The bomber’s substantial payload and long range remain valuable—particularly in the Indo-Pacific and in deterrence missions—where sheer firepower and standoff reach can matter more than stealth alone.

Maintaining the B-1B’s viability not only sustains bomber capacity while the Air Force awaits the B-21 Raider, but also hedges against potential delays or production shortfalls. Full-rate production and operational fielding of the stealth bomber remain years away and are contingent on industrial capacity and budget stability.

In that context, continued investment in the B-1B serves a practical purpose: without it, the Air Force risks a near-term “bathtub effect,” in which bomber force levels decline as aging platforms retire faster than next-generation replacements can be delivered.

Despite the rationale for upgrading the B-1B to manage near-term risk, a strong case can also be made for accelerating and expanding the B-21 Raider force.

The B-21’s stealth architecture, advanced sensor suite, and deep integration with future joint-force networks are purpose-built to penetrate the world’s most sophisticated integrated air defense systems—a capability that is increasingly central to U.S. global strike strategy.

Unlike the B-1B, whose survivability is inherently constrained in high-threat environments, the B-21 is designed for a new era of distributed operations and sustained competition with peer adversaries.

Here’s a refined rewrite that tightens the argument, smooths transitions, and sharpens the strategic conclusion:

Yet current procurement plans still call for only about 100 B-21s—a figure many analysts argue is insufficient to meet the demands of deterring conflict across multiple theaters simultaneously. Defense analysts and retired senior officers have suggested that a force closer to 175–200 aircraft, or even upwards of 225, would better align with projected strategic requirements and provide adequate capacity alongside legacy platforms.

Advocates of a larger B-21 fleet contend that economies of scale and expanded industrial capacity could support higher production rates. Air Force leadership has also indicated as recently as December 2024 that accelerating the B-21 build schedule would be feasible if required.

The principal constraint, however, remains cost. Each B-21 is expected to carry a unit price of roughly $700 million, with total program costs likely exceeding $100 billion. Expanding the fleet would increase overall expenditures—but proponents argue it would still be more cost-effective than allowing a future capability gap to emerge, restarting production lines years later, and fielding additional aircraft with a shorter remaining service life.

Upgrading the B-1B may be the least risky option in the near term—and likely a necessary one given how long it will take to field the B-21 at scale—but it does not resolve the underlying question of long-term force structure.

If the B-21 is truly the bomber designed for the threat environment the United States expects to face, the more difficult and consequential decision will be whether the Air Force is willing to commit to buying significantly more of them sooner rather than later.

SOURCE 

Quick take on Steven Spielberg's upcoming film Disclosure Day.

Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day trailer feels less like a conventional sci-fi reveal and more like a meditation on perception itself. Rather than relying on shock or spectacle, the trailer invites viewers to question what they see and to consider how our understanding of reality is shaped by unseen forces and subtle cues.

The cardinal appears as a symbolic messenger—an omen of truth—signaling moments when the natural and the hidden intersect, much like a warning that something ancient and intelligent is watching. This motif of a recurring, meaningful symbol echoes Spielberg’s earlier work: in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the protagonist Roy Neary is haunted by the shape of Devil’s Tower, a subtle nudge toward a larger cosmic truth. The cardinal in Disclosure Day seems to serve a similar purpose, functioning as a visual cipher that hints at imminent revelation. This device encourages viewers to look for meaning in the ordinary, suggesting that the extraordinary is always lurking just beneath the surface.  I've been writing something similar since 2020.

The man being shocked by scientists (and himself) suggests humanity’s desperation to force contact, to extract an extraterrestrial or inter-dimensional entity from within him, implying a symbiotic relationship rather than simple possession. This isn’t invasion—it’s a covert coexistence being revealed.

The crop circle forming could be symbolic of a five-dimensional object intruding on 3-dimensional space, and the control room (with all the human faces on monitors) implies a covert government organization, tracking thousands of symbiotic-implanted humans. 

The elk and the deer and other forest animals, serene yet uncanny, read as advanced-beings rendered in forms our three-dimensional minds can comprehend, disguising the alien as familiar nature.

Finally, the glowing house stands as the trailer’s most striking image: an interdimensional spacecraft or gateway, quietly embedded in suburbia, suggesting that first contact isn’t coming from the sky—but has been with us all along. A good guess is the intelligence is making itself known because of humans teetering on extinction, either from nuclear war or Artificial Intelligence.  

In June we will see if I'm right.

Uniden unveils new digital scanner radio, the Uniden SDS150

Uniden has unveiled the SDS150, a next-generation digital scanner that represents more than just a hardware refresh. Developed with input from longtime users and tested in real-world conditions, the SDS150 offers professionals and enthusiasts an upgraded experience built on reliability, flexibility, and cutting-edge technology.


“The SDS150 isn’t just a hardware upgrade. It’s a field-tested evolution,” said Kamie Eckert, Uniden America Corp.’s Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. “It keeps users informed when reliability matters most—whether that’s monitoring emergency frequencies, tracking severe weather, or staying connected at the track.”
Key Enhancements

Features include, enhanced sensitivity: improved signal reception and filtering minimize interference and boost clarity.

*Simplified Interface: A redesigned control layout and bright digital display make operation more intuitive.

*Extended Battery Life: Optimized power management supports long-term field use.

Lightweight Durability: Compact and rugged for daily professional reliability.
New and Exclusive Features

*Built-in GPS Receiver: Automatically updates and reprograms public safety frequencies as you travel from one city or county to another—no external GPS kit required.

*Bluetooth Connectivity with Uniden U/AWARE App: Unlock advanced app-driven capabilities and real-time data when paired with compatible mobile devices.

*Charging Cradle with Backup Battery Slot: Includes a docking port for convenient charging, plus a slot to charge a spare battery (sold separately).

*Integrated Waterfall Display: Visualize signal activity across a frequency spectrum at a glance—a premium feature now standard on the SDS150 at no additional cost.

What we don't know:

Does the SDS150’s enhanced sensitivity compare to that of the SDS100 or SDS200 in challenging urban RF environments and have improvements have been made to reduce front-end overload or intermodulation when scanning in areas with strong nearby transmitters? Are there filtering parameters for specific bands for unique service types as (for example) the 225 to 280 MHz MILAIR/SATCOM bands? Are there preloaded service searches or scanning profiles specifically for aviation and military monitoring? How quickly can the SDS150 lock onto active frequencies during airshow or training range activity? Does the waterfall display help identify active air or military channels visually in real time?

From my experience the SDS 100 was a little deaf on VHF and UHF aviation bands. Hopefully the new SDS 150 will correct these issues. In my opinion the best Uniden scanner for MILAIR/MILCOM is the tried and true Uniden BC15X which will be hard to beat. If (and when)I get our hands on the UNIDEN 150 - expect a full review.

-Steve Douglass 

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: MILCOM