Miami – Venezuela’s air defense system is on the verge of collapse, with minimal technical capabilities and a deeply corrupted structure, according to a new Miami Strategic Intelligence Institute report.
According to the recent report, more than 60% of the radars are out of operation and a large part of the combat aviation is inactive or limited to minimum functions 2 of 10. The few available resources are used to protect Caracas and Orchila, epicenters of the political and military power of the Nicolás Maduro regime.
The report indicates that “Venezuela has ceased to have a functional air defense system (…) What exists today is a fragmented apparatus, corroded by criminal interests and operating with political objectives,” he says.
Jyl-1 and JY-11B type radars, essential for airspace surveillance, are mostly inactive due to lack of spare parts. Only a few SU-30mk2 and F-16 aircraft survive, whose operability is sporadic. K-8W Karakorum trainers, lacking air-Aire radar, are used only for symbolic purposes in anti-drug operations, according to a study based on active personnel testimonies within the Air Force and verified technical data.
“Cartel de los Soles”
The report also details the growing influence of the so -called Los Soles Cartel, whose operators within strategic commands such as Codai and Zodi coordinate “the Deliberate Radares off to allow clandestine flights.” These actions have consolidated an air corridor between Venezuela and Mexico, key to drug trafficking towards the north of the continent.
International cooperation has not managed to reverse this degradation either. China, ancient technical ally, has reduced its support to a symbolic minimum. Iran, on the other hand, has strengthened its presence by sending Mohajer-6 drones and specialists in electronic warfare. However, his speech is limited to reinforcing the defense of the areas where the high political command is protected, without real benefit for the rest of the country.
Interests of the regime?
According to the MSI, Venezuela lacks any external military projection today. The armed force cannot sustain operations outside the Caracas-Maracay axis, the Navy is virtually inoperative, and the terrestrial forces do not have tactical mobility. Internally, the survival of the regime depends more on the repressive apparatus – military, faes, groups – than on conventional power.
“The Venezuelan sky is not defended,” says the report. “It is monitored only depending on the interests of power, while drug trafficking routes and organized crime remain open with total impunity.”
The study warns that an opposition movement with aerial or external support could easily overcome defenses in much of the territory. Only Caracas, armored for political reasons, offers significant resistance.
