He United States military headquarters moves closer to Venezuela.
Incursions by planes commanded from the Pentagon into Venezuelan airspace have gone from anecdotal – almost like sounding balloons – to numerous, and with no apparent response from Caracas.
A few weeks ago, an undisclosed number of US Navy F/A-18 fighters They entered the Venezuelan air control zone repeatedly.
These were short-term incursions without leaving the limits of the airspace of some of the most important regions of the country such as the Gulf of Venezuela, the city of Maracaibo or even Maiquetía, relatively close to Caracas airport.
The Bolivarian armed forces were unable to repel incursions. And the Pentagon has decided to redouble its efforts.
Since the beginning of December, American military planes have been flying at high frequency – the last time dating back to yesterday – over Nicolas Maduro’s airspace.
Drones of all types and capacities, electronic warfare aircraft or those dedicated to early warning are some examples of the systems deployed. Or at least the ones that have been seen.
Screenshot of several US planes in Venezuelan airspace
One of the most notable aspects of these incursions is that they appear on sites and apps dedicated to tracking planes, like Flightradar24.
Military aircraft, by their very nature, can be shown or hidden of these online services on demand for security reasons.
The fact that they decided to reveal these raids for all to see may mean another provocation against Maduro and its military leaders.
A key player in all of these operations is the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest in the entire American fleet, which serves as the spearhead of the projection of American air capabilities.
From a secret location strictly protected by other warships, the Gerald R. Ford serves as a floating, roving air base, adapting to mission needs.
In addition, some fighters based in the Caribbean, such as in Puerto Rico, have been identified and, yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago announced its full collaboration with the United States in this regard.
The electronic warfare aircraft identified are the F-18 Growler, which flies in the region under the designators Grizzly 1 and Grizzly 2.
According to Flightradar24, these Grizzlies have always been accompanied by Conventional F/A-18 in its naval versionmuch more capable in terms of attack and defense than Electronic Warfare Growlers.
US Navy F/A-18s fly with the designator Rhino and with different numberings in the region.
A few miles offshore, the US Navy has also deployed the Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye. This is an early warning aircraft specifically focused on detecting other aerial assets.
Concerning military drones, they were identified in several times to the MQ-4C Tritonspecialized in maritime surveillance.
Continuing this scenario, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is warning of a “potentially dangerous situation” for aircraft operating in the region.
Last Sunday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López assured that the country had strengthened the operational autonomy of the Integrated Airspace Surveillance and Control System, without this having any effect on American incursions.
“With its modern radars, missile systems, anti-aircraft artillery and the use of aircraft in close coordination with the Bolivarian military aviation, CODAI (Global Aerospace Defense Command) has become a vanguard in the overall defense of the nation,” he added.
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