These are the U.S. ships and aircraft massing off Venezuela - The Was…
Júlia Ledur
DG>>> that is a pretty impressive gathering of warships and support vessels positioned in a relatively small body of water. Certainly not there for a training exercise. Likely waiting for covert ops to be completed and Nobel “Peace” prize winner to agree to terms for her taking over government with agreement to U.S. of a MAJOR oil deal before the assault begins..
The Trump administration is adding steadily to its already formidable military buildup in the Caribbean, escalating a multifront pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that has included strikes on more than 20 alleged drugs boats and the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker. The prospect of potential strikes on Venezuelan territory continues to loom.
Advanced bombers, specialized jamming equipment and refuelers have been moved into the Caribbean in recent weeks, assets that analysts say could support military operations in the area, such strikes on Venezuela.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened imminent attacks on Venezuela in recent months, but it’s unclear if such an escalation, with the risks it would entail, has broad support within his administration. Some analysts say the public threats and military buildup could be aimed at encouraging Maduro to step down and depart power peacefully.
U.S. military assets deployed to the Caribbean in recent weeks
Known assets deployed in recent weeks as of Dec. 17. Some military assets may have repositioned, departed or reentered the area since their initial deployment.
Ford Carrier Group
Five vessels were deployed from Croatia with the USS Gerald R. Ford, according to the U.S. Navy.
USS Gerald R. Ford
USS Winston S. Churchill
Guided missile destroyer
Guided missile destroyer
Guided missile destroyer
Amphibious assault ship
USS Fort Lauderdale
Amphibious transport dock
Amphibious transport dock
Guided missile destroyer
Guided missile destroyer
Guided missile cruiser
Guided missile cruiser
Littoral combat ship
F-35 Lightning II
B-52 Stratofortress
Supersonic
fighter jet
Maritime patrol
aircraft
Transport and
cargo aircraft
Fighter and attack
aircraft
Unmanned combat
aerial vehicle
Electronic attack jet
Medium-lift military
utility helicopter
Medium-range
recovery helicopter
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES
MH-6 Little Bird
AC-130J Ghostrider
Floating special
operations base
Medium-lift military
utility helicopter
Light observation
helicopter
Heavily armed gunship
Sources: U.S. Navy, Department of War, FlightRadar.
AC-130J GhostriderAV-8B Harrier IIB-1B LancerB-52 StratofortressEA-18G GrowlerF-35 Lightning IIMH-6 Little BirdMH-60M Black HawkMH-60T JayhawkMQ-9 ReaperMV Ocean TraderMV-22 OspreyP-8 PoseidonSikorsky UH-60L Black HawkUSS BainbridgeUSS Fort LauderdaleUSS Gerald R. FordUSS Gettysburg (CG-64)USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7)USS Jason DunhamUSS Lake Erie USS MahanUSS San AntonioUSS StockdaleUSS Thomas Hudner USS WichitaUSS Winston S. Churchill|
| Heavily armed gunship | Special Operations Forces | U.S. Air Force (Special Ops Command) | | Fighter and attack aircraft | Air | U.S. Marine Corps | | Supersonic bomber | Air | U.S. Air Force | | Strategic bomber | Air | U.S. Air Force | | Electronic attack jet | Air | U.S. Navy | | Supersonic fighter jet | Air | U.S. Marine Corps | | Light observation helicopter | Special Operations Forces | U.S. Army (160th SOAR) | | Medium-lift military utility helicopter | Special Operations Forces | U.S. Army (160th SOAR) | | Medium-range recovery helicopter | Air | U.S. Coast Guard | | Unmanned combat aerial vehicle (drone) | Air | U.S. Air Force | | Floating special operations base | Special Operations Forces | Operated for U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) | | Transport and cargo aircraft | Air | U.S. Marine Corps | | Maritime patrol aircraft | Air | U.S. Navy | | Medium-lift military utility helicopter | Air | U.S. Army | | Guided missile destroyer | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Amphibious transport dock | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Aircraft carrier | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Guided missile cruiser | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Amphibious assault ship | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Guided missile destroyer | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Guided missile cruiser | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Guided missile destroyer | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Amphibious transport dock | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Guided missile destroyer | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Guided missile destroyer | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Littoral combat ship | Naval | U.S. Navy | | Guided missile destroyer | Naval | U.S. Navy |
The buildup, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, is the largest U.S. deployment to the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama. The armada off Venezuela’s coast includes warships, surveillance craft, elite Special Forces units and the Navy’s largest aircraft carrier. On land, the United States has reactivated at least one military base in Puerto Rico, using it to house F-35 fighter jets, according to Washington Post analysis of satellite images.
José Aponte de
la Torre Airport
Source: Planet Labs
The escalatory U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast last week could indicate the start of more to come, and analysts say the forces currently assembled in the Caribbean lend themselves to the imposition of a de facto oil blockade on Venezuela.
Follow Trump’s second term
“With Operation Southern Spear, we have the force posture in the region to do these kinds of things,” said Ryan Berg, the director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. He said the operation that seized the Venezuelan oil tanker last week involved forces from the coast guard, Navy, Air Force and Homeland Security.
“When we had a light footprint, when these vessels were in other theaters of the world, it was really hard to do sanctions enforcement like this,” Berg said.
Estimated U.S. military personnel deployed to the Caribbean
Deployments are as of Oct. 31 and are based on the ships announced or acknowledged by the Pentagon. The figure doesn’t include personnel in Puerto Rico.
The bombers, refuelers and jamming equipment most recently spotted in the Caribbean include EA-18G Growlers, F-35As, rescue craft and refueling planes, according to photographs and flight tracking information.
EA-18G Growlers were photographed by Reuters at the recently reactivated Roosevelt Roads naval base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, on Dec. 10.
The addition of F-35As was reported by The War Zone, the same outlet that reported on new rescue craft and additional refueling equipment being moved to the Caribbean.
The Pentagon deployed its largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, to the Caribbean last month, a move seen as a major escalation of U.S. military posture in the region. The Ford joined previously assembled warships, fighter jets, drones and surveillance craft in the area.
As the buildup has progressed, the Pentagon has also flown bombers along Venezuela’s coastline in a show of force.
Outside Venezuela, the country’s opposition is attempting to increase political pressure on Maduro. Opposition leader María Corina Machado traveled to Norway to collect her Nobel Peace Prize. Machado missed the ceremony, but since then she has embarked on a diplomatic blitz through Europe, meeting with leadership there and granting press appearances.
Machado had been in hiding in Venezuela since January and was barred by the government from leaving the country. It’s unclear if she will be able to return to Venezuela while Maduro remains in power.
Maduro is feeling the pressure from the Trump administration, tightening security and limiting public appearances. But so far the Venezuelan president has chosen to dig in and wait. Trump and Maduro last spoke last month when Trump offered Maduro the possibility of exile, an offer the Venezuelan leader refused.
Amaya Verde and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report. Edited by Emily Eng, Benjamin Soloway and Jeremy Lang.
Júlia Ledur is a graphics reporter covering foreign news at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 2021, she worked as a graphics editor at the COVID Tracking Project at the Atlantic. Previously, she was on the graphics team at Reuters, covering Latin American politics, the environment and social issues with data and visuals. @juledurg
Susannah George is The Washington Post's Gulf bureau chief, based in Dubai, where she leads coverage of the oil-rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf and their neighbor, Iran. She previously spent four years as The Post's Afghanistan-Pakistan bureau chief |
