Venezuelan air force's absence in defending skies during US strikes

When US forces carried out a high-risk operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in central Caracas in the early hours of January 3, senior American officials said their aircraft encountered limited ground-to-air fire but faced no aerial resistance. While many details of the raid, dubbed Absolute Resolve, remain undisclosed, defence analysts say Venezuela’s fighter jets likely stayed grounded throughout the operation.

Two military experts clarified that the absence of an air response can be explained by a combination of surprise and long-term degradation of Venezuela’s air force in an interview with Breaking Defense.

On the tactical level, the raid appears to have caught Caracas off guard. Strategically, years of sanctions, economic collapse, and internal purges have severely weakened the country’s military aviation capabilities.

On the night of the raid, “Caracas realized that any scramble would be quickly neutralized,” said Andrei Serbin Pont, President of the Argentina-based CRIES think tank. He suggested Venezuelan commanders instead chose to “prioritize the withdrawal and dispersion” of their remaining aerial assets.

Retired Colombian Air Force Colonel Iván González echoed that assessment, saying that “the status of the Venezuelan air force is worse than in the year 2000,” when he last served in Caracas. He highlighted the force’s “low level of capabilities of [Venezuela’s fleet of combat] aircraft” and “limited quick-reaction capabilities.”

The Aviación Militar Bolivariana, as the Venezuelan Air force is officially called, operates a diverse and aging mix of aircraft sourced from the United States, Russia, China, and Brazil. Its inventory still includes F-16A/B Fighting Falcons acquired from the US in the early 1980s, when Washington viewed Venezuela as a stable democratic partner. Some of those F-16s conducted a fly-by of US naval vessels in the Caribbean following an earlier US strike on suspected drug-trafficking boats in September 2025.

Under former president Hugo Chávez and his successor Maduro, Venezuela added Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighters and Chinese Hongdu K-8 light attack aircraft to its fleet, alongside older Brazilian-made Embraer Tucanos. However, how many of these aircraft are currently operational remains unclear. Analysts point to decades of sanctions, lack of spare parts, and chronic underfunding, suggesting that cannibalizing aircraft to keep a small number flying is likely.

Serbin Pont estimates that Venezuela may be able to operate “as many as six single-seat warplanes” with limited weaponry and around 12 airworthy Sukhois. Yet equipment is only part of the problem. Years of crackdowns on suspected coup plotters, personnel desertions, and restricted training opportunities have reduced the pool of qualified pilots. The air force likely has “few pilots of advanced age,” Serbin Pont said, while González described existing pilots as having “low levels of pilot training” and “a low morale and will to fight.”

According to US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, American helicopters flew in at extremely low altitude — around 30 meters above the water — during the overnight mission. Venezuelan authorities later acknowledged strikes in Caracas and several surrounding states, including attacks on key air bases and air defense sites.

However, Caracas has not confirmed whether any fighter jets were destroyed, and analysts say the operation’s short duration may have left Venezuelan forces with too little warning to respond before US aircraft had already withdrawn.

By Nazrin Sadigova