Venezuela

[Flash]

Despite a few helicopters getting roughed up, the raid displays some excellent planning. Military experts are stunned at how easily the CHICAP supplied air defense system was carved up to a point that even Taiwanese commentators are piling on. There was nothing easy about this operation, but it is a wonderful example of exceptional staff work and operational execution.

I don't think I'd read too much into that, a good driver in a Toyota can still beat an idiot in a Ferrari if they can't drive worth a damn. As a matter of fact the New York Times has an article out today about their Russian-made systems not being hooked up or parked in storage.

In short, the Venezuelan military’s incompetence appears to have played a big role in the U.S. success. Venezuela’s much-touted antiaircraft systems were essentially not connected when U.S. forces entered the skies over Venezuela’s capital, and they may not have been working for years, former officials and analysts said.

 

[taxi1]

“Russia’s own war demands in Ukraine may have limited its ability to sustain those systems in Venezuela, to make sure they were fully integrated,” Mr. de la Torre said.

In fact, two former American officials argued that Russia may have quietly allowed the military equipment it sold Venezuela to fall into disrepair, to avoid greater conflict with Washington. If the Venezuelan military had shot down an American aircraft, they said, the blowback on Russia could have been significant.

You get your sphere, we get ours?

Moscow had signaled to Washington that it would give the Americans unfettered influence in Venezuela in return for a free hand in Ukraine, according to Fiona Hill, who ran Russian and European affairs on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration.

 

[taxi1]

On the first boat, strike, which turns out to have been executed by an aircraft in civilian livery, thus bringing the issue of perfidy:

The Pentagon officials denied that the platform was chosen for the mission because it could disguise itself as a civilian aircraft, the people said. They told lawmakers that when the White House directed the mission, the military had little existing expertise in striking fast-moving drug boats and had to look to units that could quickly learn the new tactics, techniques and procedures associated with the mission, the official said.

That’s bullshit. During my time in the business, we went after moving targets all the time.

 

[sevenhelmet]

On the first boat, strike, which turns out to have been executed by an aircraft in civilian livery, thus bringing the issue of perfidy:

The Pentagon officials denied that the platform was chosen for the mission because it could disguise itself as a civilian aircraft, the people said. They told lawmakers that when the White House directed the mission, the military had little existing expertise in striking fast-moving drug boats and had to look to units that could quickly learn the new tactics, techniques and procedures associated with the mission, the official said.

That’s bullshit. During my time in the business, we went after moving targets all the time.

Agreed. 100% bullshit! If that striker looked like a civilian aircraft, it’s because the Pentagon wanted it to blend in.

 

[Brett327]

I've seen some back pedaling on this "civilian" aircraft thing... may have just had no markings, or perhaps a P-8 mistaken for an airliner.