Venezuela’s military had Chinese-made anti-aircraft radars available when the US launched a surprise air assault against the country to capture the country’s now-former leader, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this month. They appear to have been of little help.
Operation Absolute Resolve involved over 150 US military aircraft, none of which were shot down. A helicopter was hit, reportedly by machine gun fire, but remained operational.
Venezuela has a number of China’s JY-27A mobile radars, which Beijing has touted as top-of-the-line systems. It has said the radar can detect stealth assets, like the American F-22 and F-35, from over 150 miles away.
The success of the surprise raid by US special operators into downtown Caracas, part of a larger mission which involved not only stealth airpower but also older fourth-generation aircraft and helicopters, suggests that something didn’t go as planned on defense. That may be on the operators rather than the tech though.
After the raid, a Japanese reporter asked a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson what Beijing thought about the “large amount of military equipment” China sold Venezuela apparently being “of little practical use.” The Chinese spokesperson responded by condemning the US strike.
Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/REUTERS
The Chinese-made JY-27A is a long-range radar used for detecting and tracking hostile aircraft in protected airpsace. Introduced in 2014, the radar system consists of a radar mast with multiple antenna panels supported by separate radar and control vehicles. Chinese sources claim it has features designed to reduce jamming. A newer version, the JY-27V, has since been developed.
When Venezuela purchased JY-27As from China last year, there were claims that the radars were able to lock onto multiple F-35B fighter jets off the Venezuelan coast, presenting a potential challenge to the one-way transparency advantage of the US military.
“That’s all well and good,” Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Business Insider, “but when it really matters is in a moment of conflict.” Perhaps they were unable to withstand sophisticated electromagnetic spectrum attacks, or maybe they were improperly utilized by their operators. Either way, if they weren’t effective, they were of little use for air defense.
Radar systems are what inform air defense crews on what they’ll need to target and what weapons they need to use. “If you don’t have functioning radars then you’re a sitting duck,” he said.
US military leaders said that American aircraft were able to overwhelm Venezuelan air defenses, which has been assessed to include a range of Russian-made systems like S-300VM batteries, Buk-M2 systems, and older S-125 Pechora-2M launchers, as well as the Chinese radars. Some of these pieces are capable but aren’t the newest variants used by their respective exporters.
In the aftermath, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth mocked the effectiveness of the Russian air defenses. Nothing was said about the Chinese radars in that speech.
Key to air defense is how the network works together, and the effectiveness of the operator is vital. In Venezuela’s case, it may have been lacking the necessary conditions for successful air defense operations.
US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Isabel Tanner
A study from the Miami Strategic Intelligence Institute think tank, which hosts experts on Latin America, assessed Venezuela’s air defenses as being in critical condition as of last year.
It said that over 60% of its radar fleet was non-operational, combat aviation doesn’t fly often, and the country has received little maintenance support and spare parts from its exporters.
Venezuela purchased Chinese-made radars and Russian-made surface-to-air missile batteries to modernize its air defenses, but the hardware alone can’t make up for internal shortcomings.
Analysis by The New York Times found that some of Venezuela’s air defense equipment was in storage or not operational, leaving it unprepared for the US attack. Reports also indicated Venezuela’s military lacked the spare parts and technical background to keep air defense systems running.
Even if the failures are on the part of the Venezuelan military, the ineffective performance of the Russian and Chinese systems sends a “pretty big message,” Sobolik said. It elevates confidence in US capabilities while raising questions about those of rivals, though there are limits if it’s on the operator.
US officials said no American aircraft or military personnel were lost during the raid on Venezuela. Of the 150 aircraft and almost 200 American troops involved in the mission, one helicopter took fire and seven troops were injured.
