The US president sent mixed signals over his plans for Venezuela as his military build-up in the Caribbean continues.
Published On 3 Nov 20253 Nov 2025
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President Donald Trump has sent mixed signals over the potential for a United States military intervention in Venezuela, as he dismissed talk of “war” but threatened the South American country’s leader.
During a CBS interview, released on Sunday, the president warned that President Nicholas Maduro’s days are numbered. The comment came amid a build-up of US military units in the Caribbean, where the US has conducted multiple strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels that UN officials and scholars say are in clear violation of US and international law.
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Asked if the US was going to war against Venezuela, Trump replied: “I doubt it. I don’t think so.”
However, when asked if Maduro’s days as president were numbered, the president replied: “I would say yeah. I think so.”
US media outlets have reported that Washington is planning strikes on military installations in Venezuela as part of its war against “narco-terrorism”.
Trump appeared to deny that he is planning attacks inside Venezuela, although he did not rule the idea out completely.
“I wouldn’t be inclined to say that I would do that,” he said. “I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do with Venezuela.”
Maduro, who faces indictment in the US on drug trafficking charges, has accused Washington of using a drug offensive as a pretext for “imposing regime change” in Caracas to seize Venezuelan oil.
The US military has carried out more than a dozen strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific in recent weeks, killing at least 65 people. The campaign has prompted criticism from governments across the region.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk and rights groups say the attacks, which began in early September, amount to “extrajudicial killings” even if they target known traffickers.
Washington has yet to make public any evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the US.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has said the United States government is “fabricating” a war against him as Washington sent the world’s biggest warship towards the South American country.
It signals a major escalation of the US’s military presence in the region amid speculation of an attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan government.
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Maduro said in a national broadcast on Friday night that US President Donald Trump’s administration is “fabricating a new eternal war” as the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, which can host up to 90 aeroplanes and attack helicopters, moves closer to Venezuela.
Trump has accused him, without providing evidence, of being the leader of the organised crime gang Tren de Aragua.
“They are fabricating an extravagant narrative, a vulgar, criminal and totally fake one,” Maduro added. “Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine leaves.”
Tren de Aragua, which traces its roots to a Venezuelan prison, is not known for having a big role in global drug trafficking but for its involvement in contract killings, extortion and people smuggling.
Maduro was widely accused of stealing last year’s election in Venezuela, and countries, including the US, have called for him to go.
Tensions are mounting in the region, with Trump saying he has authorised CIA operations in Venezuela and that he is considering ground attacks against alleged drug cartels in the Caribbean country.
Since September 2, US forces have bombed 10 boats, with eight of the attacks occurring in the Caribbean, for their role in allegedly trafficking drugs into the US. At least 43 people have died in the attacks.
United Nations officials and scholars of international law have said that the strikes are in clear violation of US and international law and amount to extrajudicial executions.
Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said Saturday the country is conducting military exercises to protect its coast against any potential “covert operations”.
“We are conducting an exercise that began 72 hours ago, a coastal defence exercise … to protect ourselves not only from large-scale military threats but also to protect ourselves from drug trafficking, terrorist threats and covert operations that aim to destabilise the country internally,” Padrino said.
Venezuelan state television showed images of military personnel deployed in nine coastal states and a member of Maduro’s civilian militia carrying a Russian Igla-S shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile.
“CIA is present not only in Venezuela but everywhere in the world,” Padrino said. “They may deploy countless CIA-affiliated units in covert operations from any part of the nation, but any attempt will fail.”
Since August, Washington has deployed a fleet of eight US Navy ships, 10 F-35 warplanes and a nuclear-powered submarine for anti-drug operations, but Caracas maintains these manoeuvres mask a plan to overthrow the Venezuelan government.
Maduro said on Saturday he had started legal proceedings to revoke the citizenship and cancel the passport of opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, whom he accuses of egging on an invasion.
Lopez, a well-known Venezuelan opposition figure who has been exiled in Spain since 2020, has publicly expressed his support for the deployment of US ships in the Caribbean and attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels.
The opposition leader reacted on his X account, dismissing the move because “according to the Constitution, no Venezuelan born in Venezuela can have their nationality revoked.” He once more expressed support for a US military deployment and military actions in the country.
Lopez spent more than three years in a military prison after participating in antigovernment protests in 2014. He was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison on charges of “instigation and conspiracy to commit a crime”.
He was later granted house arrest and, after being released by a group of military personnel during a political crisis in Venezuela, left the country in 2020.
In the meantime, the US has also put Colombia’s leadership in its crosshairs.
The US Department of the Treasury slapped sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family and the South American country’s interior minister, Armando Benedetti.
Friday’s decision marked a significant escalation in the ongoing feud between the left-wing Petro and his US counterpart, the right-wing Trump.
In a statement, the US Treasury accused Petro of failing to rein in Colombia’s cocaine industry and of shielding criminal groups from accountability.
The Treasury cited Petro’s “Total Peace” plan, an initiative designed to bring an end to Colombia’s six-decade-long internal conflict through negotiations with armed rebels and criminal organisations.
Petro, a prolific social media user, quickly shot back that the Treasury’s decision was the culmination of longstanding Republican threats, including from US Senator Bernie Moreno, a critic of his presidency.
The USS Gerald R Ford, the world’s largest warship, can carry up to 90 aircraft
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has accused the US of “fabricating a war”, after it sent the world’s largest warship towards the Caribbean in a major escalation of its military build-up in the region.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier, which can carry up to 90 aircraft, to move from the Mediterranean on Friday.
“They are fabricating a new eternal war,” Maduro told state media. “They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war.”
The US has been increasing its military presence in the Caribbean, sending warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft in what it says is a campaign to target drug traffickers.
It has also carried out ten airstrikes on boats it says belong to traffickers, including one on Friday when Hegseth said “six male narco-terrorists” had been killed.
That operation took place in the Caribbean Sea, against a ship Hegseth said belonged to the Tren de Aragua criminal organisation.
The strikes have drawn condemnation in the region and experts have questioned their legality.
The Trump administration says it is conducting a war on drug trafficking, but it has also been accused by both experts and members of Congress of launching an intimidation campaign in an effort to destabilise Maduro’s government.
Maduro is a longtime foe of Trump, and the US president has accused him of being the leader of a drug-trafficking organisation which he denies.
“This is about regime change. They’re probably not going to invade, the hope is this is about signalling,” Dr Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at the Chatham House think tank, told the BBC.
He argued the military build-up is intended to “strike fear” in the hearts of the Venezuelan military and Maduro’s inner circle so that they move against him.
In its Friday announcement, the Pentagon said the USS Gerald R Ford carrier would deploy to the US Southern Command area of responsibility, which includes Central America and South America as well as the Caribbean.
The additional forces “will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs”, or transnational criminal organisations, spokesman Sean Parnell said.
Watch: The US is “fabricating an eternal war”, says Nicolás Maduro
The carrier’s deployment would provide the resources to start conducting strikes against targets on the ground. Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of what he called “land action” in Venezuela.
“We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said earlier this week.
The aircraft carrier last publicly transmitted its location three days ago off the coast of Croatia, in the Adriatic Sea.
Its deployment marks a significant escalation in the US military buildup in the region. It is also likely to increase tensions with Venezuela, whose government Washington has long accused of harbouring drug traffickers.
The carrier’s large aircraft load can include jets and planes for transport and reconnaissance. Its first long-term deployment was in 2023.
It is unclear which vessels will accompany it when it moves to the region, but it can operate as part of a strike group that includes destroyers carrying missiles and other equipment.
The US has carried out a series of strikes on boats in recent weeks, in what President Donald Trump has described as an effort to curtail drug trafficking.
Pete Hegseth on X
The US said it had destroyed a drug trafficking boat earlier on Friday
The strike announced on Friday was the tenth the Trump administration has carried out against alleged drug traffickers since early September. Most have taken place off of South America, in the Caribbean, but on 21 and 22 October it carried out strikes in the Pacific Ocean.
Members of US Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, have raised concerns about the legality of the strikes and the president’s authority to order them.
On 10 September, 25 Democratic US senators wrote to the White House and alleged the administration had struck a vessel days earlier “without evidence that the individuals on the vessel and the vessel’s cargo posed a threat to the United States”.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, has argued that such strikes require congressional approval.
Trump said he has the legal authority to order the strikes, and has designated Tren de Aragua a terrorist organisation.
“We’re allowed to do that, and if we do [it] by land, we may go back to Congress,” Trump told White House reporters on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that “if people want to stop seeing drug boats blow up, stop sending drugs to the United States”.
The six deaths in the operation Hegseth announced on Friday brings the total people killed in the US strikes to at least 43.
Brian Finucane, a former US State Department lawyer, told the BBC the situation amounted to a constitutional crisis that the US Congress, controlled by Republicans, has not appeared willing to challenge Trump on.
“The US is experiencing an Article 1 crisis,” said Mr Finucane, who now works at the International Crisis Group. “It is the US Congress that has principal control over the use of military force. That control has been usurped in this instance by the White House, and so it’s up to Congress to push back.”
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U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers look to have just flown close to the Venezuelan coast, as well as outlying islands belonging to the country in the Caribbean Sea. Just last week, a trio of the Air Force’s B-52 bombers was tracked in the same general area of the Caribbean. The U.S. military subsequently confirmed those sorties and that the bombers had been accompanied by U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Joint Strike Fighters. There is a larger U.S. government effort to put pressure on Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, ostensibly over illegal drug trafficking, with a growing possibility of direct military action against targets in that country.
Online flight tracking data shows at least two B-1 bombers departing Dyess Air Force Base in Texas earlier today. KC-135 tankers were also tracked leaving MacDill Air Force Base in Florida some 90 minutes later. What appeared to be B-1s, using the callsigns BARB21 and BARB22, were subsequently tracked flying near Venezuela. The available online tracks, which may not be entirely accurate, suggest that the bombers may have come within around 50 miles of the Venezuelan coast, and even closer to the Los Testigos islands.
Hoy cerca de las 8:30UTC salió de Dyess AFB el bombardero B1-B Lancer de la Fuerza Aérea 🇺🇲 registro 86-0127 en dirección Este. Aproximadamente 1 hora 30 minutos más tarde salió de Macdill AFB en Tampa el tanquero KC135R Stratotanker registro 63-8879 código de llamada DREW14 pic.twitter.com/RC8G8s7MTk
Flight tracking data and publicly available air traffic control audio also subsequently pointed to a flurry of other U.S. military air activity over the Caribbean near Venezuela at the time, including the presence of KC-135 tankers and an RC-135 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft. What type of RC-135 may have been in the area is unclear, but RC-135V/W Rivet Joints have been tracked in this general region in the past.
In addition, one of the Air Force’s E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) aircraft was tracked flying in the general direction of Puerto Rico — where the U.S. is staging significant military capabilities — today. Whether or not that sortie was directly related to the other U.S. military aerial activity in the southern end of the Caribbean is unknown, but the presence of this aircraft is of particular note. It facilitates communications and data sharing across a substantial portion of a theater and is uniquely capable of enabling complex military operations, relaying information to desperate ‘customers’ and fuzing and rebroadcasting data from various datalink waveforms. It is especially useful for enabling communications from the surface of the planet to aircraft in the air and other platforms around the battlespace, as well as supporting special operations missions.
A very interesting movement into the Caribbean today also seems to be this E-11A airborne communication aircraft heading from Robins AFB towards Puerto Rico pic.twitter.com/PXQLdWQzss
“There’s reporting that the US just sent B-1 bombers near Venezuela to ramp up some military pressure there. Is that accurate, and can you tell us more about that mission?” a reporter asked Trump at a press conference today.
“No, it’s not accurate. It’s false,” he responded. “But we’re not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons.”
Q: There’s reporting that the US just sent B-1 bombers near Venezuela to ramp up some military pressure there?
TRUMP: No, it’s not accurate. It’s false. But we’re not happy with Venezuela. Drugs are one reason. But also they’ve been sending their prisoners into our country. pic.twitter.com/Qw650DFfGb
TWZ has reached out to the Pentagon, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), and Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) for clarification and more information. STRATCOM redirected us to the Pentagon.
Regardless, as TWZ noted following the B-52 sorties last week, there is a well-established precedent for employing Air Force bombers in counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean. The range and targeting capabilities that the B-52 and the B-1 possess can be and have been employed to help spot and track suspected drug smuggling vessels.
As was the case last week, the online flight tracking data at least clearly points to a show of force aimed at Venezuela. The U.S. military itself described last week’s B-52 flights as a “bomber attack demonstration mission.”
A B-52 and two F-35Bs seen flying together during the “bomber attack demonstration mission” last week. USAF
Any direct action against the U.S. military might take against Venezuela could easily involve standoff strikes launched from B-1s, as well as other platforms. The bombers could also prosecute targets on land and at sea with other conventional munitions as part of any such operation. Venezuelan armed forces have limited air defense capabilities, but they could still pose a credible threat, as TWZ has previously explored in detail.
Just yesterday, Venezuela’s Maduro pointedly claimed that his country’s military has 5,000 Igla-S man-portable short-range surface-to-air missiles in “key air defense positions” across the country. Reuters also reported yesterday that it had reviewed documents that appeared to corroborate this assertion. However, that same story noted that Venezuelan forces are only understood to have 1,500 so-called “grip stocks” that are needed to actually fire those missiles.
The video below, from 2009, shows Igla-S shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles in Venezuelan service.
Other Venezuelan air defense assets also continue to be spotted in forward-deployed positions.
The Venezuelan military’s other ground, air, and naval capabilities are similarly limited, but there are certain elements that could still present some degree of a threat in the event of a violent U.S. intervention. The country’s stocks of Russian-made Kh-31 air-launched supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles are one example of this, as TWZ highlighted just this week.
Any aerial activity off the Venezuelan coast today notably follows remarks yesterday from Trump about the possibility of ordering attacks on drug cartels on land. This comes as the administration’s current campaign of strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats has now expanded from the Caribbean Sea into the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out yet another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO). Yet again, the now-deceased terrorists were engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
Trump talked about the potential for strikes against cartel targets on land during a joint press conference with visiting NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House last night. The president’s initial comments came in direct response to a question about strikes on boats in the Eastern Pacific. The Pentagon had announced the first known strike in that body of water earlier in the day. American authorities disclosed a second one some hours after Trump had made his remarks alongside Rutte.
“I will say, there are very few boats traveling on the water right now. Actually, that includes fishing boats, that includes any other kind of boat. But there are very few boats traveling on the water, so now they’ll come in by land … to a lesser extent,” Trump said. “And they will be hit on land also.”
.@POTUS on potential land strikes against drug-runners: “We will hit them very hard when they come in by land, and they haven’t experienced that yet but now we’re totally prepared to do that.” pic.twitter.com/auepQKpWcX
Trump was then asked a question about legal authorities to conduct such strikes. Questions have already been raised about the legality of the U.S. strikes on boats alleged to be involved in drug smuggling, as well as the underlying intelligence. U.S. forces are known to have targeted at least eight small boats as part of this ongoing campaign since September, six in the Caribbean and two in the Eastern Pacific.
Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
“Yes, we do, we have legal authority. We’re allowed to do that. And if we do by land, we may go back to Congress. But this is a national security problem,” Trump said. “And we will hit them very hard when they come in by land, and they haven’t experienced that yet, but now we’re totally prepared to do that. We’ll probably go back to Congress and explain what we’re doing when we come to the land.”
Trump did not elaborate on where strikes on land targeting drug cartels might occur.
The president’s comments yesterday were widely taken in the broader context of the U.S. government’s recent efforts to put particular pressure on the Maduro regime in Venezuela. However, Venezuela does not share a land border with the United States, or have an Eastern Pacific coastline. Mexico, among other countries, does. There have also been reports in the past that the Trump administration has been considering taking direct action against drug cartels in Mexico. That remains a possibility, but one that would be fraught with its own particular set of complexities and risks, as TWZ has previously explored in detail.
At the same time, Venezuela does continue to be a focal point in the U.S. government’s current ostensible counter-drug operations across the Western Hemisphere.
Beyond the flights by the B-1s and other aircraft today, there has also been a larger U.S. military build-up in the region, which includes a host of crewed and uncrewed aircraft. F-35Bs and AC-130s have also been forward deployed, for instance, among other aircraft. Among the U.S. naval flotilla is anAmphibious Ready Group (ARG) packed with Marines with USS Iwo Jima at its center, as well as a handful of destroyers, a cruiser and a nuclear submarine. The appearance of the Ocean Trader, a shadowy special operations mothership, has been a particular stand-out. Helicopters belonging to the U.S. Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment have been spotted flying over waters near Venezuela, as well.
The M/V Ocean Trader, a highly customized roll-on/roll-off cargo ship converted into a special operations command center and “mothership” operated by U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC), was spotted today in the Southern Caribbean Sea off the coast of the U.S. Virgin Islands,… pic.twitter.com/AL62ZFBYWx
Coincidentally, photos have been posted to Facebook of MH-6Ms and MH-60Ms belonging to the 160th SOAR (A) ALLEGEDLY operating off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago.
All of this comes amid reports that American forces could be poised to launch covert operations against Maduro and his regime. Last week, Trump confirmed reports that he had authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to undertake covert activities in Venezuela.
“Wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?” Trump said at a press conference last week when asked if the CIA now has the authority to depose Maduro. “But I think Venezuela is feeling heat. But I think a lot of other countries are feeling heat, too.”
It is worth noting that Trump has also been increasingly sparring with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in the past week or so. Petro has accused the U.S. government of “murder” in its strikes on the alleged drug-smuggling boats. Over the weekend, Trump had responded by calling his Colombian counterpart “an illegal drug leader” in a post on his Truth Social social network.
Trump:
President Gustavo Petro, of Columbia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Columbia.
It has become the biggest business in Columbia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large… pic.twitter.com/py7f67dQ71
The scale and scope of any U.S. operation against ostensible cartel targets on land in Venezuela, or anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere, remains to be seen. Depending on the chosen course of action, such as standoff missile strikes, American forces would not necessarily have to be present on the ground, even briefly, either.
“Several people familiar with internal administration deliberations said any initial land attack would probably be a targeted operation on alleged trafficker encampments or clandestine airstrips, rather than a direct attempt to unseat Maduro,” The Washington Post reported yesterday. “Some said the U.S. deployments and boat strikes were psychological warfare to promote fractures in the Venezuelan armed forces or persuade Maduro to step down.”
However, “having declared war against narco-terrorists, and designated Maduro as the head of at least one of them, ‘there really is no turning back unless Maduro is essentially not in power,’ said one person among those interviewed for this article who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity about the sensitive issue,” that report added. “‘At the end of the day, if you have authority to take out cartel runners … you can take out the cartel boss,’ the person said.”
Today’s B-1 sorties, coupled with Trump’s comments yesterday, only add to concerns about the potential for further major escalations in U.S. military operations aimed at Venezuela’s Maduro and other actors in the region.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
American warships operating off Venezuela’s coast are not doing so without a credible threat. This comes from the presence of the Russian-made Kh-31 high-speed air-to-surface missile. Known to NATO as the AS-17 Krypton, the ramjet-powered weapon is available in both anti-radiation and anti-ship versions, with the ship-killer being the most relevant in this context. With this reality, combined with the steady drumbeat of reports raising the prospect of a military intervention of some kind in Venezuela, it’s worth looking closer at this unique capability within its arsenal.
While we have previously discussed in detail the different layers of Venezuela’s air defense system, it’s one of the key assets of its air force, the Aviación Militar Bolivariana Venezolana, AMBV, or Bolivarian Venezuelan Military Aviation, that is the launch platform for its Kh-31s. This is the Su-30MK2V Flanker multirole fighter, 24 of which were delivered between 2006 and 2008, and 21 of which survive in service today.
A Venezuelan Su-30MK2V lands at an airbase in Maracay, around 60 miles away from Caracas, Venezuela, in December 2006. JENNY FUNG/AFP via Getty Images AFP
It should be noted that it’s not entirely clear whether Venezuela received both the anti-radiation Kh-31P and the anti-ship Kh-31A to arm its Su-30s. However, the Kh-31A, at least, appears to have been supplied, as seen in official videos showing AMBV Su-30s carrying the missiles while flying off the coast of Venezuela. Most recently, this kind of footage has been distributed by Caracas in an apparent statement of resolve against potential U.S. aggression. Venezuela has publicized its anti-ship quick reaction alert drills with these missiles in the past, as well. Moreover, the Kh-31P could also be used in anti-ship capacity, homing in on warships’ radars.
🇻🇪🇺🇸⚡#BREAKING – Venezuelan Air Force shows off it’s Russian SU-30 armed with a Russian supersonic Kh-31 air-to-surface missiles as tensions continue to rise between the US and Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/Oap2BS2uUB
A video shows Venezuelan Su-30s using Kh-31s to launch a mock attack on a ship from an alert posture:
The development of the Kh-31 series of missiles began in the late 1970s in what was then the Soviet Union. The original requirement was for a high-speed anti-radiation missile that would be able to home in on and destroy the radars associated with then-new and emerging western air defense systems, such as the U.S. Army’s Patriot surface-to-air missile system and the U.S. Navy’s Aegis combat system.
The Kh-31A anti-ship missile entered production in 1990. Outside of Russia, it has proven an export success, with around a dozen operators, including China, India, and Vietnam.
An infographic showing the features of the Kh-31 and various loadout configurations for different Russian aircraft. The complete missile depicted is a Kh-31P anti-radiation variant, with the alternate guidance and warhead configuration for the anti-ship Kh-31A variant also shown below. Boeing
Looking at the Kh-31A in more detail, it is fitted with an active radar seeker with a lock-on range of around 18 miles. The seeker works in both lock-on before and lock-on after launch modes. The missile also has a radio altimeter to ensure it can fly precisely at low altitude flight over water. All Kh-31s use a rocket-ramjet propulsion system to achieve sustained supersonic speeds. A rocket in the rear of the weapon boosts it to an optimal speed for the air-breathing ramjet to take over.
Combined with its high terminal speed, the Kh-31A has a penetration warhead, designed to punch through the side of a warship and detonate. This is in contrast to the high-explosive/fragmentation warhead in the Kh-31P. Making the missile harder to defeat is its ability to perform multi-axis maneuvers at up to 15G while skimming over the waves.
A Venezuelan Su-30 overflies the Russian nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, during joint naval maneuvers in December 2008 in the Caribbean Sea. Photo by MAIQUEL TORCATT/ABN/AFP via Getty Images MAIQUEL TORCATT
In terms of performance, the Kh-31A has a maximum range of 31 miles and a minimum launch distance of 9.3 miles. A longer-range version, the Kh-31AD, exists, with a maximum range of 75-100 miles, but it’s unclear if this was ever supplied to Venezuela.
The missile is accelerated to a speed of Mach 1.8 by means of a solid-propellant rocket booster; when the solid fuel is expended, the engine is ejected and the inside of the missile body is transformed into a combustion chamber for the ramjet, which accelerates the missile to Mach 3.5 at an altitude of 53,000 feet, or Mach 1.8 at sea level.
A promotional image of a Kh-31 showing the basic arrangement of the missile. Rosoboronexport
Each round weighs 1,323 pounds at launch, of which 192 pounds consists of the warhead. The Kh-31A is a notably big missile, with a total length of 15 feet 5 inches.
A good indicator of just how seriously the U.S. Navy takes the threat posed by the Kh-31A can be seen in its decision to buy the missiles from Russia and repurpose them as anti-ship missile targets to test the air defenses of its warships. The resulting target missile was known as the MA-31 and is a topic that we have written about in depth in the past.
A Boeing briefing slide showing the MA-31’s performance envelope compared to other targets. BoeingBoeing
Today, the Kh-31A may be old technology and also a weapon that the U.S. Navy has had first-hand experience of defeating (albeit in non-operational scenarios), however, its potency as an anti-ship weapon shouldn’t be underestimated.
A still from a video showing what appears to be a live Kh-31-series missile under the wing of a Venezuelan Su-30. via XAnother still shows a Venezuelan Su-30 with two Kh-31-series missiles under the wing. via X via X
The U.S. naval presence in the region includes the Iwo Jima Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG)/22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), with more than 4,500 sailors and Marines on three ships: The Wasp class amphibious assault ship, the USS Iwo Jima, and the San Antonio class amphibious transport dock ships, the USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale.
New details on U.S. Navy deployments to Southern Command 🇺🇸
– 3 destroyers will reportedly arrive off the coast of Venezuela within 24 hours (USS Gravely + USS Jason Dunham left Mayport last week, USS Sampson is near the Panama Canal) – Littoral combat ship USS Minneapolis-St.… pic.twitter.com/9JOlNSx3Bk
Also deployed in the region are several Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers, a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser, and the Ocean Trader, a shadowy special operations mothership. The presence of a cruiser, in particular, shadowing the Ocean Trader, underscores the fact that the Pentagon is taking the threat to this vessel very seriously. After all, the Ocean Trader has no organic defenses against anti-ship missiles and has, at times, operated very close to the Venezuelan coast.
🔎🇺🇸Is the Noose Tightening? US Special Ops Mothership Operates with Cruiser Near Venezuelan Waters
OSINT Update (Oct 6): The USS Lake Erie (CG-70), a high-value, highly capable, Ticonderoga-Class Cruiser, operating in close proximity (<6 km) with the shadowy US Special… pic.twitter.com/j8xemFDF7N
As for the Arleigh Burkes, it is worth recalling that the Navy has already made efforts to bolster the defenses of some of these. Those that are forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, feature specific kinetic and non-kinetic systems to operate in the face of anti-ship cruise missiles in high-threat areas, including off the coast of Syria, but also in the Black Sea, which is a nearly land-locked super anti-ship missile engagement zone. Other electronic warfare upgrades continue on various surface combatants across the fleet, including some that are radical in scope.
While these ships are capable of dealing with Kh-31s, and the Navy has learned a lot when it comes to defending against complex attacks on their ships over the last couple of years, that doesn’t mean they can ignore them. Its speed leaves very little reaction time, especially considering early warning would be limited if the vessels were operating very close to the Venezuelan coastline.
Exactly what the U.S. plans to do with its military assets in regard to Maduro remains unclear. Back in August, as the military buildup gathered pace, U.S. officials told CNN that it had ordered naval movements in the region to contain the threat from drug-trafficking groups.
As we have outlined in the past, the deployment of an ARG and various surface combatants, as well as other high-end assets, sends a very strong signal to Maduro and the cartels. The Pentagon could carry out airstrikes or even put a limited number of boots on the ground from international waters in a hurry via special operations raids should President Donald Trump so decide. These may be aimed at cartels linked to Maduro and not the regime itself, but they still would be unprecedented.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores parade in a military vehicle during celebrations for the Independence Day, in Caracas on July 5, 2025. Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP JUAN BARRETO
Were such a military option to be launched, it would be possible that Venezuela’s Su-30s, armed with Kh-31A missiles, would be called into action, although targeting a U.S. Navy warship would be a huge deal, with massive repercussions.
In recent weeks, however, Venezuela has flown its fighters directly at U.S. warships, a Pentagon official having confirmed to TWZ that a pair of Venezuelan F-16s flew close to a U.S. Navy vessel in September, as you can read about here. Other similar instances have reportedly occurred. With U.S. Navy vessels operating close to the Venezuelan coast, there exists the very real possibility of a surprise attack on these ships as these close encounters would have put fighter aircraft within the Kh-31’s launch range.
Aside from the Su-30/Kh-31 combination, Venezuela’s anti-ship missile capabilities are currently fairly limited.
The Venezuelan Navy has a single operational Mariscal Sucre class frigate, the Almirante Brión, part of a group of warships that were commissioned in the early 1980s. The Italian-made warship was supplied armed with eight launchers for Otomat Mk 2 anti-ship missiles. The same missiles, in twin launchers, were fitted to the Venezeulan Navy’s Constitución class fast attack craft, of which three are reportedly still operational.
Italy also supplied Venezuela with Sea Killer anti-ship missiles, which armed Venezuelan Navy AB.212 helicopters, several of which remain active, although primarily now used for assault and logistics missions.
The operational status of these Italian-made systems should be considered questionable. Even if still serviceable, they are a far less threatening proposition than the Kh-31A. Both missiles have subsonic performance. The Otomat Mk 2 has a range of around 110 miles, while the Sea Killer can hit targets out to a range of around 6.2 miles.
More recent anti-ship missile deliveries comprise the Iranian-made CM-90 (an export version of the Nasr) that were supplied by Tehran along with Peykaap III (Zolfaghar class) fast attack craft. These are also subsonic weapons.
The Venezuela Navy deployed Iranian-built Peykaap-III (Zolfaghar-class) fast attack craft equipped with CM-90 Anti-Ship Missiles (ASCM) supplied by Iran. pic.twitter.com/vc2aiSIKxI
Although the U.S. Navy is now much more familiar with the threat posed by the AS-17 Krypton, and while its warships are fitted with air defense systems that are capable of dealing with just such a threat, among others, this remains a very potent weapon.
If Venezuela were to directly attack an American warship, it would very likely result in being at war with the United States. But if the regime was already in such a predicament, or if it was facing imminent collapse, such an act could become a greater possibility.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
A trio of U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers was tracked flying orbits in international airspace off the coast of Venezuela earlier today. This is a major show of force that comes amid a larger U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean, ostensibly aimed at stemming the flow of illegal drugs north. At the same time, the Trump administration has been focusing particular pressure on the regime of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, and the possibility of direct military action, beyond at times lethal maritime interdiction operations, has been steadily growing.
The three B-52s, with the calligns BUNNY01, BUNNY02, and BUNNY03, were tracked leaving Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and heading south early this morning. The bombers subsequently turned east and flew to a patch of international airspace within what Venezuela refers to as the Maiquetía Flight Information Region (FIR).
BUNNY01 flt now orbiting within the confines of the MAIQUETIA FIR. The FIR doesn’t not constitute Venezuelan airspace but simply a ATC sector that they control. Are the B-52s talking to MAIQUETIA CONTROL or DUE REGARD? I don’t know. @liveatc had a MAIQUETIA ATC feed up 2 days ago… https://t.co/rM4PHgvBb5pic.twitter.com/Evw1nJOxRx
The B-52s appear to have orbited within the Maiquetía FIR for roughly two hours before departing. U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, presumably Marine Corps B variants flying from the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico, as well as Air Force aerial refueling tankers and other aircraft, have also been tracked in this same general area in recent weeks.
BUNNY03 parece estar retornando, según comunicación con tráfico de control aéreo saldría por waypoint AMBIN. BUNNY01 Y BUNNY02 parecen continuar hacia el Este. pic.twitter.com/B05YXyw5KU
A pesar de lo “tranquilo” que parece estar el espacio aéreo sobre el Mar Caribe y FIR Maiquetía, hoy ha habido mucha actividad, incluyendo Pegasus registro 20-46078 asistiendo a los F-35B, trabajando en conjunto con SENTRY AWACS 76-1605, entre otros 😉. El Cartel de Los Soles los… pic.twitter.com/LdyQJUNrYO
There are unconfirmed reports that at least one of the Venezuelan Air Force’s pocket fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighters reportedly took off from El Libertador Air Base, situated to the west of Caracas, while the B-52s were orbiting offshore, but also that this may have been an unrelated training flight. Whether any attempt to intercept the bombers was made is unknown. Maduro did order new snap exercises today in the wake of another lethal U.S. attack on an alleged drug smuggling boat in international waters near Venezuela. In September, he said he had deployed some 25,000 troops to help secure the country’s border areas and key oil infrastructure against potential U.S. threats.
The F-16 is only performing training at BAEL, meaning there was no attempt at any interception of the B-52s from the Venezuelan military aviation, likely assessed to be too risky due to previous threats by the US after the low flybys of US vessels
At the time of writing, it is unclear whether or not the B-52s have returned to base or are still airborne. TWZ has reached out to Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) and Air Forces Southern (AFSOUTH) for more information about the bomber sorties into the Caribbean. AFSOUTH directed us to contact the Pentagon.
It is worth noting that B-52s, as well as Air Force B-1 bombers and other U.S. military combat aircraft, have taken part in counter-narcotics operations in the skies over the Caribbean, on and off, for decades now, as you can read more about here. The range and targeting capabilities that the B-52 possesses, in particular, can be useful for spotting and further investigating suspected drug smuggling vessels.
At the same time, openly flying B-52s in such proximity to Caracas seems clearly intended to send a message to Maduro and his regime. The bombers are capable of unleashing waves of standoff cruise missiles and can carry a host of other conventional munitions that can be employed against targets on land and at sea. Though the Venezuelan armed forces have limited air defense capabilities, they could still pose a threat. Standoff strikes from aircraft like the B-52 and other assets would be a likely component of any future U.S. direct action against targets inside the country to help reduce risks to friendly forces. They could even target air defense systems to help clear the way for follow-on operations.
Earlier today, an Air Force C-17 cargo plane was also tracked making an unusual flight straight from Edwards Air Force Base in California to José Aponte de la Torre Airport in Puerto Rico. The purpose of that sortie is currently known. Edwards is the Air Force’s preeminent test base, rather than an installation for operational units.
🤔 REACH 287 (C-17) departed Edwards Air Force Base and is landing at TJRV Airport in Ceiba, Puerto Rico just at 2 am local time, this is the time of night when you transport something you don’t want anyone to see.
There has already been a major buildup of U.S. forces in the region, including the deployment, as mentioned, of Marine aircraft to the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. Air Force MQ-9 Reapers and now AC-130J Ghostrider gunships have also been spotted flying sorties from Puerto Rico. It is worth pointing out here that AC-130Js are routinely tasked with interdiction and armed overwatch-type missions, including in support of direct action special operations raids.
El que faltaba se unió al grupo. El temido Fuerza Aérea 🇺🇲 AC-130J Ghostrider registro 16-5837 activo en Jose Aponte de la Torre (TJRV), Puerto Rico. Miren los cañones 30mm GAU-23 automatico y 105mm M102 howitzer además de los misiles Hellfire x 8 📸 de Omar Y. Perez ayer 9/Oct pic.twitter.com/ztrQGiIU2E
Based on publicly available images, it appears that at least five different USAF MQ-9As have flown/are flying out of Aguadilla (BQN/TJBQ) 🇵🇷 in support of ongoing counternarcotics ops in the Caribbean.
A host of other U.S. air and naval assets are now operating in the region, as well. This includes the Iwo Jima Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG)/22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), several Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers, a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser, a Los Angeles class nuclear powered fast attack submarine, and even the Ocean Trader, a shadowy special operations mothership.
All told, there are reportedly now some 10,000 U.S. personnel, in total, forward-deployed in the region. Last week, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) stood up a new task force, led by elements of II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF), to help manage the expanded counter-narcotics operations across the Western Hemisphere.
Since September, U.S. forces have conducted at least five lethal attacks on small boats in the Caribbean, killing numerous individuals, all alleged to have been involved in drug smuggling. President Donald Trump announced the most recent of these just yesterday. Serious questions have been raised about those missions and the legal authorities behind them.
Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast… pic.twitter.com/XWDpGZ4lsZ
— Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) October 14, 2025
There has otherwise been a steady drumbeat in recent weeks of reporting on the Trump administration’s stepping up of efforts to put pressure on Maduro. Just today, The New York Times reported that Trump has authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to undertake covert actions in Venezuela and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Reports last week, citing U.S. officials, said that Trump had ordered an end to efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution to the current impasse with Venezuelan authorities.
Some members of the Trump administration have reportedly been pushing for action to oust Maduro. Since 2020, the dictatorial Venezuelan leader has also been wanted in the United States over drug trafficking and other charges, and American authorities are currently offering a $50 million bounty for his capture.
The appearance today of the three B-52s off Venezuela’s coast marks another major development in the still-expanding U.S. operations in the Southern Caribbean.
With the possibility of direct actions inland on cartels — now designated as unlawful combatants — becoming a real possibility, it’s worth taking a look at the air defense assets available to Venezuela, which comprise a somewhat unusual mix of older, lower-end equipment and smaller numbers of very capable systems, mainly Russian-supplied.
Yesterday, we reported on the first official imagery of the 10 U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs forward-deployed to the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico. These jets are now undertaking patrols in the region, with open-source flight trackers pointing to sorties off the coast of Venezuela.
A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B arrives in Puerto Rico on September 13, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Katelynn Jackson
Venezuela’s Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, has claimed that the country’s armed forces had tracked F-35s flying off the coast in the Maiquetía Flight Information Region (FIR). Today, we have also begun to see imagery indicating that Venezuelan mobile surface-to-air missile systems are being redeployed, perhaps in response to U.S. military activities.
A Venezuelan S-125 Pechora-2M moving west through Peaje La Cabrera from Maracay toward Carabobo, suggesting redeployment to a location closer to the Caribbean coast:
Several Venezuelan S-125 “Pechora-2M” surface-to-air missile systems were observed near Maracay in northern Venezuela, after Venezuela alleged that US fighter jets had started flying near its borders
Meanwhile, it’s not only F-35s that are active in the region. A growing mix of U.S. forces is now active in the counter-narcotics operation, with Marine Corps AV-8B attack jets also in theater as part of the Air Combat Element (ACE) deployed to the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, and other assets that could be quickly deployed.
MQ-9 Reapers have also previously been used in maritime drug interdiction operations here. Of the U.S. military’s four deadly strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, the latest of which was today, at least two targeted vessels that originated from Venezuela. MQ-9s would be the most likely choice for operations in lightly contested and non-contested airspace, as we have discussed in the past.
Earlier this morning, on President Trump’s orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the… pic.twitter.com/QpNPljFcGn
Were the United States to decide to strike the cartels directly at their inland bases in Venezuela, or even expanded operations against the Maduro regime directly, the F-35 may well be the weapon of choice. These jets have the ability to penetrate into enemy airspace, even when relatively heavily defended, and strike fixed and moving targets.
At the sharp end of the Venezuelan military’s capabilities to disrupt or degrade any U.S. air operations directed against the country are its air defense systems. These include ground-based systems that are operated by the Venezuelan Army (Ejército Bolivariano, EB, or Bolivarian Army of Venezuela), as well as fighter jets flown by the Venezuelan Air Force (Aviación Militar Bolivariana Venezolana, AMBV, or Bolivarian Venezuelan Military Aviation). Certain air-defense-capable warships also serve with the Venezuelan Navy (Armada Bolivariana de Venezuela, or Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela).
Venezuelan Air Force
In terms of the AMBV, the mainstay of its fighter force is provided by 21 Su-30MK2V Flanker fighters, 24 of which were delivered between 2006 and 2008. These can be armed with beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, but they are multirole types, also able to carry a variety of precision-guided air-to-ground ordnance, including Kh-31A (AS-17 Krypton) supersonic anti-ship missiles.
Air-to-air armament for the Su-30s includes the R-77 beyond-visual-range missile known to NATO as the AA-12 Adder. With a reported maximum range of 50 miles, the R-77 is typically launched under inertial guidance, with midcourse updates provided by datalink, before using its active radar seeker for the terminal phase. Reportedly, the R-77 can switch to a home-on-jam mode if it encounters heavy electronic countermeasures, engaging the source of the jamming.
Three Venezuelan Air Force Su-30MK2V Flanker multirole fighters overfly a military parade in Caracas on July 5, 2017. FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images AFP Contributor
The Flankers can also carry the older R-27 (AA-10 Alamo) series beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles. Basic versions are the semi-active radar-homing R-27R and the infrared-guided R-27T, as well as the longer-range radar-guided R-27ER and the infrared-guided R-27ET. The extended-range versions add a more powerful dual-pulse engine section to the same missile.
The maximum range of the R-27R is reportedly 37 miles, and 31 miles for the R-27T. The extended-range versions are able to hit targets at a maximum range of 59 miles (R-27ER) or 56 miles (R-27ET).
Close-range missile armament for the Su-30 is provided by the R-73, known in the West as the AA-11 Archer. It has an all-aspect infrared seeker, high off-boresight capability, thrust-vectoring controls, and can be cued by the pilot’s helmet-mounted sight. It has a maximum range of around 18.6 miles against a head-on target, or 8.7 miles in a tail-on engagement.
Nowadays far less important within the AMBV inventory is the F-16A/B, once the pride of the air force.
A Venezuelan Air Force F-16A. Brazilian Air Force/Enilton Kirchhof Brazilian Air Force/Enilton Kirchhof
Perhaps only three of these fighters are still operational, although a pair was involved in a ‘show of force’ near the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Jason Dunhamlast month.
The F-16s have no beyond-visual-range weapons, relying on the Israeli-made Python 4 infrared-guided air-to-air missile, supplementing the AIM-9L/P-4 Sidewinder, 150 of which were supplied when the F-16s were first ordered. At this stage, the Venezuelan F-16s remain as a mainly token capability, which you can read about in detail here.
Venezuelan Army
Turning to the Army, its most powerful air defense system is the S-300VM, an unspecified number of which were acquired from Russia by Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez. The purchase was reportedly part of a deal for a loan of $2 billion provided by Moscow. The EB’s S-300VM made its first public appearance in Venezuela during a military parade in Caracas in 2013.
The S-300VM (SA-23 Gladiator/Giant), sometimes marketed as the Antey-2500, is a modernized version of the Cold War-era S-300V1 (SA-12, also Gladiator/Giant), originally designed for the Soviet ground forces. This is a long-range surface-to-air/anti-ballistic missile system carried on tracked transport-erector-launcher (TEL) vehicles, for improved cross-country mobility, something that could be a big problem for the U.S. military, as we will come to later.
In the S-300VM, the two primary types of missiles offered in the S-300V1 — the 9M83 (SA-12A Gladiator) with a maximum engagement range of around 47 miles and the 9M82 (SA-12B Giant) that can engage targets out to 62 miles — are replaced with new 9M83M and 9M82M missiles. These are claimed to be able to hit targets out to a range of 81 miles and 124 miles, respectively.
Launcher units can either be loaded with four 9M83M missiles or two 9M82Ms.
A Venezuelan Army S-300VM loaded with two 9M82M missile canisters during celebrations for Independence Day in Caracas on July 5, 2025. Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP JUAN BARRETO
The S-300VM can engage ballistic missiles, as well as aircraft and cruise missiles. While its anti-ballistic-missile capability is relatively limited, the Antey-2500 marketing name highlights its claimed ability to engage 2,500-kilometer (1,553-mile) range intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), with re-entry velocities around 4.5 kilometers/second (2.8 miles/second).
Venezuela reportedly fields a single battalion equipped with two S-300VM units, with their main operating base at Capitán Manuel Ríos Air Base in Guárico state.
Making a stark contrast with the S-300VM is Venezuela’s S-125 Pechora (SA-3 Goa) medium-altitude surface-to-air system, the first version of which entered Soviet service in the early 1960s. However, the EB’s S-125s have been modernized to Pechora-2M standard, with different reports stating that 24 or 44 systems have been fielded.
A Venezuelan Army S-125 Pechora-2M in Caracas, on July 5, 2019. Photo by Carolina Cabral/Getty Images Carolina Cabral
In the Pechora-2M, which is a joint Russian/Belarusian upgrade, the missiles are moved from the previous static launchers to a wheeled TEL. Meanwhile, the modernized 5V27D and 5V27DE missiles feature new fuses and warheads, and enhanced electronics. The Low Blow engagement radar is also mounted on the same 6×6 MZKT-8022 truck as the missile launchers.
Unlike the S-125, the more modern Buk-M2 (SA-17 Grizzly) medium-range surface-to-air system was designed to be fully mobile from the outset. It is a further development of the 9K37 (SA-11 Gadfly) developed toward the end of the Soviet era. However, while Soviet and Russian versions of the Buk series are based on a tracked TEL vehicle carrying four ready-to-fire missiles, as well as the fire control radar, the variant supplied to Venezuela is on a 6×6 wheeled chassis.
With its combination of high mobility and independence of operation, as well as its reported ability to hit targets operating as high as 80,000 feet, the Buk-M2 is one of the most capable and versatile ground-based air defense systems available to the EB. In Russian hands, the Buk-M2 has proven to be a fearsome adversary for the Ukrainian Air Force.
Speaking to TWZ, the late Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 pilot known as “Juice,” Andrii Pilshchykov, singled out the Buk-M2 and the latest Buk-M3 version among the most concerning threats.
Venezuela is understood to have received 12 Buk-M2 systems, which are also shared with the Navy, for the defense of naval installations and in amphibious operations by the Venezuelan Marine Corps.
A Buk-M2 during a military training exercise in Caracas on May 21, 2016. JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images JUAN BARRETO
All these Russian surface-to-air missile systems are road-mobile, with varying degrees of high-mobility capability. This makes them especially threatening to even advanced combat aircraft, including the F-35, as they can pop up without warning and in close proximity. They are also much harder to find and fix, with this unpredictability making them a significant threat.
Lastly, the EB has received around 300 ZU-23-2 towed twin-barreled 23mm anti-aircraft guns. A first unit was reportedly equipped with these autocannons in 2011, somewhat surprising given that this is a relatively antiquated system. With a maximum engagement altitude of around 6,500 feet, the ZU-23-2 is most relevant for engaging helicopters, low-flying drones, and cruise missiles. At the same time, it can be very effective when used against ground targets.
First fielded in the 1950s, the versions of the ZU-23-2 used by the EB are more advanced than their predecessors, with a computerized fire-control system and an electro-optical sighting system.
Venezuelan Army soldiers engage a ground target with a Russian ZU-23-2 during military training in Caracas on May 21, 2016. JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images JUAN BARRETO
Finally, the EB also issues man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), including the Russian-made Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch) and the Swedish RBS 70.
The Igla-S is among the latest versions of the Igla family and among the most advanced such weapons available on the market today. Compared to older variants, the Igla-S has a longer range and a significantly larger warhead. Its maximum range of 20,000 feet is more than 5,000 feet greater than that of the U.S.-made FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS.
The-then Venezuelan minister of defense, Padrino Lopez, mans a Russian-made Igla-S during military training in Caracas on May 21, 2016. JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images JUAN BARRETO
In 2017, Reuters reported that it had obtained a Venezuelan military record that showed the country had a total inventory of approximately 5,000 Igla-S missiles. These would pose a significant threat to any low-flying aircraft or cruise missiles.
The EB also has a smaller number of RBS 70s. This laser-beam-riding MANPADS was attributed with the destruction of an OV-10 Bronco close-support aircraft during the military coup launched against President Carlos Andres Perez in November 1992.
It should be noted that, despite the influx of new Russian-made equipment, the EB has also lost some of its previous capabilities in recent years, primarily due to the effect of sanctions and ostracization from much of the international community.
In this way, the EB has been forced to decommission its three Israeli-supplied Barak-1 ADAMS short-range air defense systems (SHORADS), which were decommissioned relatively soon after they were acquired, after appearing only once in a public parade in 2006. These towed systems were primarily acquired for point-defense of airbases, a requirement highlighted during the 1992 coup attempt. Reportedly, the ZU-23-2 is now the primary weapon for defending Venezuelan airbases against low-level attack.
Venezuelan Navy
Something of a wildcard is the air defense capability of the Venezuelan Navy.
As well as Igla-S and RBS 70 MANPADS, as well as Buk-M2 systems shared with the Army, the Venezuelan Navy has a single operational Mariscal Sucre class frigate, the Almirante Brión. The Italian-made warship was supplied armed with a Mk 29 octuple launcher for Sea Sparrow/Aspide air defense missiles, providing a point-defense capability. The operational status of this system should be considered questionable.
Conclusion
Overall, Venezuela has an unusually varied collection of air defense assets, including smaller numbers of more capable systems. However, even most of the older surface-to-air missile systems have been upgraded and, as stated earlier, are generally highly mobile, meaning they can appear virtually anywhere, disrupting carefully laid mission plans. They could still pose a threat that would have to be taken seriously during any kind of offensive U.S. air operation directed against Venezuela.
As we have discussed in the past, after the Houthis got worryingly close to downing a U.S. F-35, and reportedly several F-16s, even largely rudimentary air defense capabilities can pose a very real challenge for American combat aircraft. It should be noted that the same Houthi militants, often using improvised systems, claim to have damaged or destroyed Tornado, F-15, and F-16 combat jets, as well as drones, belonging to Saudi Arabian-led forces during fighting in the late 2010s and early 2020s.
At the very least, it might be expected that the Venezuelan air defense picture would prompt the U.S. military to rely heavily on stealthy aircraft like the F-35, especially for any direct strikes on targets in defended areas of the country, as well as costly standoff munitions. Such a campaign would also require the support of defense-suppression assets and other support aircraft with their associated capabilities. Using any crewed aircraft complicates operations dramatically, with a combat search and rescue (CSAR) package needing to be ready at a moment’s notice.
For now, it remains unclear whether U.S. military activities directed against suspected drug-smugglers and/or the Maduro regime will be escalated. However, as U.S. assets continue to arrive in the Caribbean, that scenario seems to be becoming more likely.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says ready to defend ‘sovereignty’ as US military deploys warships near country’s territorial waters.
Published On 29 Aug 202529 Aug 2025
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said there was “no way” United States troops could invade his country as tension rises with Washington and a US naval force builds up in the Southern Caribbean near Venezuela’s territorial waters.
“There’s no way they can enter Venezuela,” Maduro said on Thursday, stating that his country was well prepared to defend its sovereignty as US warships arrive in the region in a so-called operation against Latin American drug cartels.
“Today, we are stronger than yesterday. Today, we are more prepared to defend peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Maduro said in a speech to troops, according to the state-run Venezuela News Agency.
Maduro made his comment as Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to protest the US military build-up.
“It’s a massive propaganda operation to justify what the experts call kinetic action – meaning military intervention in a country which is a sovereign and independent country and is no threat to anyone,” Moncada told reporters after meeting with Guterres.
“They are saying that they are sending a nuclear submarine … I mean, it’s ridiculous to think that they’re fighting drug trafficking with nuclear submarines,” the ambassador said.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, centre, giving a thumbs up next to Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, left, and First Lady Cilia Flores, right, as they watch military exercises at a training camp in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday [Handout/Venezuelan Presidency via AFP]
Earlier on Thursday, Admiral Daryl Claude, the US Navy’s chief of naval operations, confirmed that US warships were deployed to waters off South America, citing concerns that some Venezuelans were participating in large-scale drug operations.
Seven US warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, were either in the region or were expected to be there in the coming week, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency.
More than 4,500 US service members, including some 2,200 Marines, were also reported to be on board the ships in an operation that was launched after the Trump administration accused Maduro and other members of his government of links to cocaine trafficking.
Venezuela has responded to the US threats by sending warships and drones to patrol its coastline and launching a drive to recruit thousands of militia members to bolster domestic defences.
Caracas has also deployed 15,000 troops to its borders with Colombia to crack down on drug trafficking and other criminal gangs.
On Thursday, Maduro thanked Colombia for sending an additional 25,000 military personnel to the Colombia-Venezuela frontier to tackle “narco-terrorist gangs”, the Venezuela News Agency reported.
While the US has made no public threats to invade Venezuela, Trump’s threats against the country have focused chiefly on its powerful criminal gangs, particularly the cocaine trafficking Cartel de los Soles, which the Trump administration has designated a terrorist organisation and accused Maduro of leading.
Maduro has, in turn, accused Washington, which is offering a $50m reward for his capture over alleged drug offences, of seeking to implement regime change in Venezuela.
A lawyer fights to free Venezuelans imprisoned after a crackdown on political dissent.
The number of political prisoners in Venezuela reached its highest point following protests against Nicolas Maduro’s controversial re-election in July 2024. Alfredo Romero, a lawyer and the executive director of Foro Penal, brings hope to detainees and their families by providing pro bono legal and humanitarian assistance.
Prisoners face charges such as incitement to hatred, terrorism, and conspiracy. They’re often denied communication and access to legal defence. With a rebellious spirit rooted in his youth as a punk rocker and driven by a desire for social change, Alfredo must reinvent the ways in which Foro Penal works to free those unjustly imprisoned.
Venezuela’s Fight for Justice is a documentary film by Luis Del Valle.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi says Venezuelan president one of the world’s ‘largest narco-traffickers’.
The United States has offered a $50m reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, doubling an earlier reward of $25m set by the Trump administration in January.
The US has accused the Venezuelan leader of being one of the world’s leading narco-traffickers and working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.
In a video posted to social media on Thursday announcing the “historic” increase in reward money, US Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Maduro of collaborating with Venezuelan crime syndicates Tren de Aragua, Cartel of the Suns and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
“He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security. Therefore, we doubled his reward to $50 million,” Bondi said.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice, and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,” she said, before giving the public a hotline phone number where they can report tips.
Bondi also said that the US Department of Justice had so far seized more than $700m in assets linked to Maduro, including two private jets, nine vehicles, and claimed that tonnes of seized cocaine had been traced directly to the president.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil responded on the Telegram platform to Bondi’s announcement, saying it was “the most ridiculous smokescreen ever seen” and designed to distract attention from the Jeffrey Epstein controversy in the US.
“It does not surprise us, coming from who it comes from. The same one who promised a non-existent ‘secret list’ of Epstein and who wallows in scandals of political favours,” the minister said.
“Her show is a joke, a desperate distraction from her own miseries. The dignity of our homeland is not for sale. We reject this crude political propaganda operation,” he said.
Maduro was indicted in a US federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency, along with several close allies, on federal drug charges.
At the time, the US offered a $15m reward for his arrest. That was later raised by the Biden administration to $25m – the same amount the US offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden following the September 11, 2001, attacks.
In June, a former director of the Venezuelan military intelligence pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges in the US, a week before his trial was set to begin.
Hugo Carvajal, who served in the government of the late President Hugo Chavez from 2004 to 2011, admitted guilt in four criminal counts, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons charges.
US federal prosecutors had alleged the former major-general, along with other high-ranking Venezuelan government and military officials, led a drug cartel that attempted to “flood” the US with cocaine.
Then-Venezuelan lawmaker Hugo Carvajal attends a meeting at the National Assembly administrative offices, in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2016. Carvajal, a former head of military intelligence, has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges by the US [File: Fernando Llano]
Carvajal had served as a diplomat representing Maduro’s government before breaking with him to support the country’s US-backed political opposition. He was extradited from Spain to the US in July 2023 following more than a decade-long campaign by the Justice Department.
Despite the US rewards, Maduro remains in power after his re-election as president in 2024 in a vote that was condemned as a sham by Washington, the European Union and several Latin American governments.
Last month, the Trump administration struck a deal to secure the release of 10 Americans jailed in Caracas in exchange for Venezuela seeing the return home of dozens of people deported by the US to El Salvador under the Trump administration’s new immigration crackdown.
Shortly after, the White House also reversed course and allowed US oil giant Chevron to resume drilling in Venezuela after it was previously blocked by US sanctions.
LOBATERA, Venezuela — Carlos Uzcátegui tightly hugged his sobbing wife and stepdaughter on Wednesday as the morning fog in western Venezuela lifted. The family’s first embrace in more than a year finally convinced him that his nightmare inside a prison in El Salvador was over.
Uzcátegui was among the migrants being reunited with loved ones after four months in prison in El Salvador, where the U.S. government transferred them in one of its boldest moves to crack down on immigration.
“Every day, we asked God for the blessing of freeing us from there so that we could be here with family, with my loved ones,” Uzcátegui, 33, said. “Every day, I woke up looking at the bars, wishing I wasn’t there.”
“They beat us, they kicked us. I even have quite a few bruises on my stomach,” he added later showing a mildly bruised left abdomen.
The migrants, some of whom characterized the prison as “hell,” were freed Friday in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Venezuelan governments, but the latter sequestered them upon arrival to their country.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other officials have said many of the immigrants were physically and psychologically tortured during their detention in El Salvador, airing on state television videos of some of the men describing the alleged abuse, including rape, severe beatings and pellet-gun wounds. The narratives are reminiscent of the abuses that Maduro’s government has long been accused of committing against its real or perceived, jailed opponents.
As the men reached their homes, they and their relatives shared deeply emotional moments in which sad tears and happy tears rolled down their cheeks at the same time.
Uzcátegui’s wife, Gabriela Mora, 30, held onto their home’s fence and sobbed as she saw the military vehicle carrying him approach after a 30-plus-hour bus ride to their mining community nestled in Venezuela’s Andean mountains. She had set up gifts and decorations in their living room, including a star-shaped metallic blue balloon with a “Happy Father’s Day” greeting that his stepdaughter had saved since the June holiday.
‘We met a lot of innocent people’
The 252 men ended in El Salvador on March 16 after the administration of President Trump agreed to pay $6 million to the Central American nation to house them in a mega-prison, where human rights groups have documented hundreds of deaths and cases of torture. Trump accused the men of belonging to the violent Tren de Aragua street gang, which originated in Venezuela.
The administration did not provide evidence to back up the accusation. However, several recently deported migrants have said U.S. authorities wrongly judged their tattoos and used them as an excuse to deport them.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello on Friday said only seven of the men had pending cases in Venezuela, adding that all the deportees would undergo medical tests and background checks before they could go home.
Arturo Suárez, whose reggaeton songs surfaced on social media after he was sent to El Salvador, arrived at his family’s working-class home in the capital, Caracas, on Tuesday. His sister hugged him after he exited a vehicle of Venezuela’s intelligence service.
“It is hell. We met a lot of innocent people,” Suárez told reporters, referring to the prison he was held in. “To all those who mistreated us, to all those who negotiated with our lives and our freedom, I have one thing to say, and scripture says it well: Vengeance and justice is mine, and you are going to give an account to God the Father.”
The Associated Press could not verify the abuse allegations that Suárez and other migrants narrated in the videos aired by state media.
Atty. Gen. Tarek William Saab on Monday said he had opened an investigation against El Salvador President Nayib Bukele based on the deportees’ allegations. Bukele’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Appointment to seek asylum
The men left El Salvador as part of a prisoner exchange with the U.S., which received 10 citizens and permanent residents whom Maduro’s government had jailed over accusations of plotting to destabilize Venezuela.
Mora said her husband migrated after the coal mine he had long worked at halved his pay and their street food shop went out of business in 2023. Uzcátegui left Lobatera in March 2024 with an acquaintance’s promise to help him find a construction job in Orlando.
On his way north, Uzcátegui crossed the punishing Darien Gap that separates Colombia and Panama, and by mid-April he had reached Mexico City. There, he worked at a public market’s seafood stall until early December, when he was finally granted an appointment through a U.S. government smartphone app to seek asylum at a border crossing.
But Uzcátegui never walked free in the U.S., where authorities regarded his tattoos with suspicion, said Mora. He was sent to a detention center in Texas until he and other Venezuelans were put on the airplanes that landed in El Salvador. Still, she said she does not regret supporting her husband’s decision to migrate.
“It’s the country’s situation that forces one to make these decisions,” she said. “If [economic] conditions here were favorable … it wouldn’t have been necessary for him to leave to be able to fix the house or to provide my daughter with a better education.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (L), greets supporters with his wife, Congresswoman Cilia Flores, during a campaign closing ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA-EFE
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, May 23 (UPI) — Venezuela will hold regional and parliamentary elections Sunday amid a deep political and economic crisis. High voter abstention is forecast and a divided opposition lacks a unified strategy against the ruling party.
María Corina Machado, leader of the opposition Democratic Unitary Platform, who is in hiding from government security forces, has called for a boycott of the vote. She urged Venezuelans not to legitimize what she describes as a fraudulent process.
Other opposition leaders, including former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and Zulia state Gov. Manuel Rosales, have chosen to participate in the vote to preserve political representation.
After leading the opposition coalition that secured Edmundo González’s victory in the 2024 presidential vote, Machado remains a key figure for many who oppose President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro rejected the election results and held on to power by force. Machado’s influence is expected to drive widespread abstention, according to Beatriz Rangel, a former Cabinet minister under President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
A recent poll from the Center for Political and Government Studies at Andrés Bello Catholic University found that just 15.9% of Venezuelans plan to vote in the upcoming elections. Of those, 74.2% said they would back pro-Maduro government candidates, while 13.8% expressed support for figures aligned with Rosales and Capriles.
The leading reasons cited for abstention include a lack of trust in the National Electoral Council (27.4%), the belief that voting no longer makes a difference (23.9%), and the view that participating would undermine protests against alleged fraud in the most recent presidential election (14.4%).
Venezuela’s economic situation continues to worsen after a brief period of relative stability. The Venezuelan Finance Observatory reported a 2.7% contraction in the economy during the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, citing declining oil production, soaring inflation and reduced domestic consumption.
The Economic and Social Research Institute at Andrés Bello Catholic University projects inflation will reach 220% by the end of the year, driven by the depreciation of the bolívar and falling government revenues. The weakened currency has made imported goods more expensive and eroded purchasing power for most Venezuelans.
The upcoming elections will decide 285 seats in the National Assembly and 24 regional governorships, most of which are expected to remain under the control of Maduro allies.
For the first time, representatives from the disputed Guayana Esequiba region also will be elected, a move that has heightened tensions with Guyana. The Guyanese government has denounced the inclusion as illegal and warned that those participating could face arrest.
