By. Scott Jackson
10.23.2025
With the announcement of United States ground operations planned for Venezuela, I thought we might take a look at the Ejército Bolivariano (Bolivarian Army) defenses and capabilities. What exactly are they working with and how will the US, using what we know they have in the region, counter these systems.
First lets look at the most recent movements.This is a Buk-M2E Surface-to-Air Missile System (NATO-SA-27) spotted this morning in the area of Naiguata, on the coast of Venezuela. This is possibly the same system that was spotted in the same area several weeks ago and is set up in almost the same spot.
The SA-27 has a maximum engagement range of around 70km (about 43 miles), and its search radar has a search range of over 150km(about 93 miles). We don’t see the Buk’s “snowdrift” radar present in the image. If I was setting this up I would position the radar in the hills that overlook the coast, giving it a better view of the area. This system is no joke and has given Ukraine all sorts of problems in that war. The system can launch 4 missiles before needing a reload.
Venezuela’s military isn’t super modernized so a lot of the equipment they are working with are older Soviet/Russian systems, including S-300VM’s (NATO-SA-12A Gladiator) which Maduro’s predecessor got in a deal to loan russia a couple billion dollars in the 2010s.Its reported they only have a limited number of these (Possibly 4 launchers) These have likely been repositioned to protect the capital and other strategic sites around the country. The range of these depends on the missile, which are the 9M83M and 9M82M. These are claimed to be able to hit targets out to a range of 81 miles and 124 miles, respectively. Each launcher holds 2 missiles each, and takes around an hour to reload.
The last Surface to air missile system we will talk about is a lesser known one, The S-125 Neva/Pechora (NATO- SA-3 Goa), Most well known for shooting down a F-111 Nighthawk over Serbia. This is an older system with a decent range of anywhere from 15km to 35+km depending on the actual missile used.
The last bit of air defense the EB possesses was reported on by mainstream media today with their story of Maduro threatening that he has 5000 missile systems at the ready, what he was referring to was the countries stock of Man portable air defense systems (MANPADS), mainly Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch) and the Swedish RBS 70. Short range rockets that can be fired by almost anybody but very short range. 6km(3 miles) up to 11,000ft, so not really a threat to anything flying at a normal altitude but still worth considering in mission planning.
While their air defense is outdated at best and possibly nonfunctioning in the worst of cases, their air fleet is nothing to ignore, around 20 Su-30MK2V Flanker’s make up the bulk of their fighting power. The Su-30 can be outfitted with the R-77 missiles (AA-12 Adder). This missile has a 50km(31Miles) range and is guided by a datalink from the jet before switching to an active radar guidance. It’s also been proposed that this weapon has a home-on-jam feature which forces the missile to target the source of any electronic jamming.
The flankers can also carry the R-27 (AA-10 Alamo) which are shorter range and use passive radar guidance as well as inferred, though not exactly.This missile comes in several variants, like 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 R-27R is reportedly around 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).
The close range engagements for the SU-30 are handled by the R-73(NATO-AA-11 Archer) which is similar to something like an AIM-9 Sidewinder. Includes features like all-aspect infrared seeker, high off-boresight capability, thrust-vectoring controls, and the ability to be cued by the pilot’s helmet-mounted sight.maximum range of around 18.6 miles against a head-on target, or 8.7 miles in a tail-on engagement
Venezuela also possesses some (maybe 3 that fly) F-16A/B’s once purchased from the US in the 1980s, when relations were much warmer. Two of these were involved in a show of force conducted against an Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Jason Dunham, last month.These are not the F-16’s you might see today, these planes carry no beyond visible range weapons and lack the upgrades given to today’s F-16’s. The best weapon they possibly have is the Israeli supplied Python-4, a supplement for the AIM-9 Sidewinders. These are possibly the oldest and most out of date F-16’s flying in the world and are mostly there for show.
U.S. Military buildup
While the U.S. has comparatively unlimited resources to throw at this. Realistically they are more likely to use what they have in hand and what’s readily available. I’ve gone over most of this in the past but it’s worth a refresher.
Let’s start with what we won’t see. Last week, the White House confirmed that US President Donold Trump had authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to operate within Venezuela. This is possible, probable even.
We also have satellite images (confirmed later) that show that the MV Ocean Trader is in the area. This is a highly modified vehicular carrier and more so this ship is a special forces helicopter/drone mothership. This lines up with images and reports that put the US Army 160th special operations aviation regiment ”Nightstalkers” in the area, possibly operating from the ship.
Moving on with the rest of the assets. Let’s start with everything that shoots a Tomahawk Cruise Missile. We have 3 Arleigh Burke-Class Guided Missile Destroyers.
-USS Stockdale DDG-106
-USS Gravley DDG-107
-USS Jason Dunham DDG-109
-We also have the Ticonderoga-Class USS Lake Erie CG-70.
All of these are going to have around 32 cruise missiles apiece.
-In addition we have the submarine USS Newport News SSN 750 with another 12 Cruise missile.
-USS Wichita LCS 13
Three supply ships
-USNS Kanawha T-AO-196
-USNS Henry J Kaiser T-AO-187
-USNS Joshua Humphreys T-AO-188
Next is the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) (SOC) made up of the
-Wasp-class Amphibious Assault Ship USS Iwo Jima LHD 7
-Amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio LPD 17, and USS Fort Lauderdale LPD 28.
The above group had limited air-to-ground capability with its Harriers as well as transport options for the marines stationed aboard.
Rounding this list off we have
-At least 10 F-35’s from the “Vikings” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 225 stationed at Puerto Rico’s Roosevelt Roads Naval Station.
At least two AC-130 Ghostrider Gunship
-a reported total of around 10,000 soldiers.(not sure if this includes the 2,000 marines)
We also have a collection of aircraft that have appeared in the region but not necessarily stuck around,2 B-52H Stratofortress Bombers, B-1B-Lancer Bombers, a number of KC-135 Stratotankers, Dozens of Cargo planes (C-5 Galaxy’s and C-130’s) EC-3 Sentry AWACS ,and P-8 Poseidon ASW/Maritime Patrol plane.
While this list is large, I’m sure it’s not all of the assets currently in the theater. One of the United States best advantages here is it being close to home, allowing them to call in pretty much anything they want. The question isn’t whether the Venezuelan military will be defeated, it’s more like “how long will they last?”
As I finished this, a B-1B lancer flew just within range of where that BUK is sitting and then turned around. Playing Peek-A-boo. just thought that was interesting considering this article started with talking about the range of that system.
Global Conflict Reporting 
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