A bright moon shone on the shores as S-300s and Pechora’s lined the shore. MANPADs armed with Igla-S on the patrol. The days leading up to the decisive action by the US Nightstalkers and Delta saw a flamboyant display of Venezuelan might against USN ships. No one expected Mig-29s to be a problem for the United States military, but the operation itself was a lightening flash even by the standards set by expectation, with news channels scrambling to confirm the thunderclap for hours later.
Venezuela is no flower child. Sure, they don’t hold a candle to the US armed forces, but how do rotary winged aircraft bypass air defence grids, infiltrate a secured compound of a hated dictator and pack him and his wife up like the luggage of a weekend getaway and exfil, all before most people can even say “United States Joint Special Operations Command”?
The answer is, time and strategy. Intuitive as it sounds, the appreciation for the groundwork behind military operations in the modern world is grossly underwhelming. The full extent of technologies and intelligence support is unlikely to be made public knowledge any time soon, if at all, however, analysts around the world have managed to piece together some events based on reports and testimonies.
To understand this, one needs to appreciate the threat environment that the US forces must have faced. President Maduro was housed in a secure compound surrounded by hill, making the only approach vector through the well-lit, inhabited area of Caracas. Furthermore, security barracks were barely a few mins away and he was rotating his domicile. Going further out, Venezuelan forces use layered air defences including the Russian S-300s, Pechora, Igla-S mentioned earlier and even the JY-27 of Chinese origin, marketed as an “ant-stealth” radar.
While social media would have you believe the systems were useless, the reality of modern warfare is vastly different and not intuitive for the majority that lacks domain knowledge. Concepts like network centric warfare and established and mature doctrine are not only complimentary to weapons system efficacy but critical and even then, the US technological advantage is a force to be reckoned with. But those are not pertinent to this discussion.
While at an elementary level, radar defeat maybe attributed to spectrum domination by the Electronic Warfare (EW) capabilities of the US forces, the process for its success is worth noting. Furthermore, MANPADs (Man-Portable Air-Defence) are not entirely reliant on Electronics. Especially over city lights and a full-moon, any one of which is a terrible handicap for low flying Heli-borne insertion of troops. Since unlike AD-Artillery, a person with a mobile system can be placed anywhere from a roof to a rock, and Helicopters lack the speed, altitude and agility of fixed-wind platforms, they are at high-risk, and needless to say, no amount of jamming can disable a person relying on sight.
Finally, comes the ground assault. Reports suggest no more than 20-25 troops on the ground, considering the size of the compound and the security forces, there is no practical way an invading force could have located the President and his wife and successfully exfiltrated in the duration at which they did and without heavy losses. Yet, here we are!
Taking it from the top, it is clear that this was a multi-domain operation with months of planning and years of doctrine, culminating in an operation that has surely become a benchmark and case study for militaries the world over. For months now, US forces had positioned into aggressive formations around Venezuela. Naval assets and aircraft performed probing sorties and aggressive manoeuvres to “poke the bear” and see the reactions. The inflammatory statements from Washington and attacks on boats claimed to be smugglers only legitimised the threat and put Maduro under pressure.
This solved two problems; Air defence grids often have separate Peace-time and war time frequencies and the forces on ground have separate standard operating procedures as well. Back at the presidential security level, a direct threat to the principal (the primary asset to be protected i.e. the president) would trigger the highest security measures. Things can be countered when they become fungible and processes need to be exercised for them to become just that.
It does not take a genius to figure out that American covert assets were active within Venezuela at the highest levels, with the rampant corruption, poverty and power imbalance, it is not even hard to imagine how. It can be safely assumed that the location and movements of the president was already known in the US and the Chinese surveillance systems along with the defence networks probably breached. Not a big feat once you factor in the presence of ground assets who could access physical ports even on isolated networks.
Meanwhile the probing and constant threat allowed the US joint intelligence apparatus to gather data on reaction times, radar sites and sweep patterns. Platforms like E/A-18 G Growlers, specialized Super-Hornets of the Navy along with other maritime surveillance aircraft as well as other assets that “don’t exist” would have had enough electronic, signals and human intelligence, that they could probably charge Venezuela for consultation.
Special forces are special for many reasons but the primary amongst them is how much they cost. Not just to train, but to arm and deploy. Equipment aside, they are effective because they are supported by a vast intelligence apparatus that allows them heightened situational awareness which consequently allows them to plan for contingencies with and expanded profile of support elements which can range from artillery and drone support to the mobilization of a Carrier Battle Group, at least in the case of USA. Preposterous as it may sound, nothing short of such “Blank cheque” approach is needed to do what the US has done.
Delta would have had reconstructions of Maduro’s compound, his quarters, patterns, SOPs and reaction times of the security details as well as enough maps of the area to make a small atlas, in the event things went sideways. Above all, they trained with all this information for months to the point where they would’ve been able to execute the operation in their sleep.
The action itself would have been a well-oiled, integrated and multi-domain attack. Drones and Aircraft saturated the radar while EW attacks either jammed or spoofed their systems creating data that would not make sense and create massive confusion and even redirect resources like interception and alert. In essence, overload the enemy with so much contradictory data, they don’t know what is real or even if it is real and if it is, then where to look for it.
The second step came from the power cut reported across Caracas. Like most modern systems, power grids work on rudimentary systems based on IP-Systems. So, they can be hacked, especially if you have a man on the ground. This reduced the visibility over the city, allowing aircraft and drones to move with relative ease. While the moon helps with visibility, going from city lights to just a full moon is a massive downgrade, especially in the confusion that the AD units would have been in.
The strike itself was a far cry from subtle. Apache gun ships and drones rained down on Venezuela. When Armour piercing rounds and Hellfires start coming at you, even the most seasoned air-defence unit can be forgiven for directing their attention towards that. Amidst the explosions and confusion, the Nightstalkers slipped in, with Delta on board, already aware of the compound layout and possibly armed with real time feed from the surveillance equipment therein.
The process is usually simple; one element secures the perimeter so the security can’t interfere and the other moves in for the bag. However, whether propaganda or reality, an un-ignorable report suggests the use of Direct Energy Weapons (DEW). Usually, it evokes the image of lasers and for those more familiar with the domain, it might allude to EW which is done though signals which are electromagnetic radiation. However, the reports suggest that the security personnel were disoriented and felt like their heads would explode along with bleeding out of their nose and ears. This could allude to the use of sonic weapons where sound is used to incapacitate the enemy. The advantage is that it is an area weapon and does not suffer from running out of ammo and therefore, perfect to handle large crowds.
If true, this would have allowed the relatively small element if Delta to level the playing field against a large security detail till the extraction was done and with minimal casualties on either side. The psychological effect on the hosts of this party however, is an entirely different story.
Even in the military, People do not face death every day, especially in the Venezuelan military. So, when, one night, you have been shot at, with 30mm cannons and missiles and have seen an angry Apache pilot looking at you through his 30 mm M230 cannon, the best thing you can wish for besides still having a pulse is getting to watch the tail end of your attackers as they leave.
While a nice little story, this is a masterclass in modern security and special operations alike. A lesson that will keep teaching for months, if not years to come and for the Indian subcontinent, it will both bring an enthusiastic smile on many faces, and an uneasy chill on their spines. China would be neck deep in the data trying to figure out if there were any loopholes that originated in their equipment that is not currently hedged while trying to understand the latest US doctrines and draw up means to integrate and counter them. This, however means a direct threat to India as well.
Operation Sindoor changed the dynamics of South-Asian power and reshaped Indian military doctrine. A flurry of new procurements, focusing on drones and alternative warfare along with new, specialised units have come up in a relatively short period. If that is something to go by, one can expect major procurements, especially in the domain of electronic warfare and DEWs, both of which played a role back in Sindoor and are sure to become the staple of future warfare.
