Videos and pictures are surfacing on social media seems A major US military operation is currently underway around the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, including several large explosions and the presence of US special operations helicopters. While there has been no official announcement of the launch of such an operation, it comes after months of US military buildup in the region aimed at putting pressure on the cartels and Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
We’ve reached out to the White House, Pentagon, and US Southern Command for comment and will update this story with any relevant information provided.
Videos show the explosions and the resulting clouds of smoke on the horizon.
Other videos show 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) MH-47 Chinook helicopters (and possibly what appear to be MH-60s) flying over Caracas as multiple explosions occur in the background.
A full-scale military campaign against Venezuela appears to be under way, with dozens of helicopters carrying US troops seen over the capital Caracas. pic.twitter.com/kIqfbGjOK4
What we are seeing, which has not been confirmed by the US government at this time, appears to be the initiation of a new phase of the southern spearhead of large-scale kinetic operations within Venezuela.
We will update this post with more analysis and information. support
UPDATE: 2:45AM EST-
The Pentagon and Southcom responded to our inquiries about what was going on, and they told us to contact the White House without further comment. We have not received a response yet.
CBS News Trump reportedly ordered an attack on military facilities.
��
BREAKING THROUGH @CBSNews: President Trump ordered strikes on sites including military facilities inside Venezuela, US officials said, as the administration intensified its campaign against the regime of President Nicolas Maduro early Saturday. through @JimLaPorta and i
Some considerations at the time of this operation. A special operations helicopter mission flying deep inside a contested area during a nearly full moon is far from ideal. It’s not clear what might have pushed up the timeline for such an operation. Venezuela’s air defenses are not advanced, but they do pose a threat, which you can read about here. Apart from large SAM systems, the country has several man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) which are particularly problematic for helicopters. After all, either the threat was deemed low enough to proceed with the helicopter operation or the risk was worth the potential reward of whatever target or targets they were after.
It is also worth noting that airstrikes can eliminate known air defenses that could put helicopters at risk, but Venezuela’s MANPADS (if they were widely deployed) and road-mobile SAMs are very difficult and in many cases impossible to mitigate against pre-planned strikes. We also expect that either the U.S. had assured Venezuelan combat forces that they would not fly, and had contingencies in place to ensure that they did not, or that they were (more likely) already destroyed on the ground. Apart from suppressing the enemy’s air defense package, electronic and cyber warfare would also play a major role in this operation in terms of blunting Venezuela’s air defenses.
The timing is interesting here. The moon is almost full, far from optimal for this sort of thing, especially using SOF helicopters deep in a metro area like this. The strikes probably helped clear air defenses for them, but this is unclear at this time. The goal may be to set a timeline…
Video showing helicopters firing rockets at targets on the ground is said to be from tonight’s operation, although we cannot confirm this. It looks like a typical MH-60 direct action penetrator or MH-6 Little Bird rocket attack run.
A strike appears to have hit a port warehouse:
UPDATE: 3:20 AM EST-
Venezuela’s government condemned the attack and said it had seized the country’s oil and mineral wealth.
In what appears to be a very large contingent of 160th SOAR helicopters leading this operation, it appears that the USS You have the people They will be used to support them, especially since much of the ship’s air wing has been moved ashore. Special Operations Mothership M/V Ocean Trader It is also an important part of the effort as it has been in the area for months and ships with it You have the peopleBut its ability to support multiple helicopters is much more limited than an ambitious attack ship.
You’d imagine the USS Iwo Jima is also acting as a special operations mothership for this. Most of its air wings have been redeployed ashore. Ocean Trader is definitely in the mix.
Here’s another video showing the MH-60 Direct Action Penetrator doing another run:
Footage of a US helicopter (possibly USMC AH-1Z Viper) engaging ground targets with gunfire and rocket fire over Caracas, Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/mT5h1lnFkl
Early reports indicated that Fort Tiuna was the main focus of the action. This military installation is the center of gravity for the Venezuelan military and has some very unique features, including bunkers/tunnels built into the side of a mountain.
Man… there are some very ‘interesting’ features on this base related to what was built on the hill.
