CHINA, RUSSIA AIR DEFENSES FAULTED IN VENEZUELA
China, Russia air defenses faulted in Venezuela
Among the major military failures exposed during the U.S. raid against Venezuela was the inability of a high-technology Chinese radar system to operate.
Extensive Russia anti-aircraft missiles and radar also were rendered useless.
The Chinese radar system in question is the JY-27A system that Beijing sold to Caracas and markets elsewhere as capable of detecting low-observable aircraft. This is a key sensor capability the Chinese military wants for use in countering F-35 and F-22 stealth jets and B-2 and future B-21 stealth bombers in any future conflict with the U.S.
However, U.S. military forces on Saturday demonstrated highly effective mission SEAD — suppression of enemy air defenses — in the opening minutes of the lightning-fast raid. Forces knocked out both the Chinese radar and extensive Russian air defense missile systems.
Asked about the failure of the Chinese equipment in Venezuela, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian appeared temporarily at a loss for words before declining to address the issue.
“China firmly supports Latin America and the Caribbean region’s status as a Zone of Peace,” Mr. Lin said Monday in Beijing in response to a Japanese reporter who asked why Chinese military equipment appeared to be “of little practical use” during the raid.
The Y-27A is a long-range air surveillance and guidance radar the Chinese claim is resistant to jamming while being highly reliable and mobile. The Very High Frequency radar uses an active phased array antenna.
Its manufacturer, the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, has said the radar can detect stealth aircraft like the F-22 up to 310 miles away.
Details on exactly how the Venezuelan military’s Chinese and Russian air defenses were rendered useless has not been made public.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters the operation involved “meticulous” planning and execution by air, ground, space and naval forces.
As U.S. warplanes approached Venezuelan shores, the joint forces began “layering different effects” from space, cyberspace and intelligence units, he said.
“The force included F-22s, F-35s, F-18s, EA-18s, E-2s, B-1 bombers, and other support aircraft, as well as numerous remotely piloted drones,” Gen. Caine said, noting that the early strikes dismantled and disabled air defenses allowing special operations commandos to enter without resistance on helicopters.
The EA-18 “Growlers” were reportedly key electronic jamming and communications systems used in the SEAD mission.
According to online military analyst Shanaka Anslem Perera, the Maduro government spent about $2 billion on Russian S-300 air defense missiles along with support radar and communications that were linked to the Chinese JY-27A system.
Moscow also supplied the Pantsir-S1, a gun-missile hybrid weapon engineered to knock out drones and low-flying helicopters — like those that penetrated Venezuelan airspace during the raid.
“None of them fired. Not one,” Mr. Perera stated on Substack.
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