Operation Absolute Resolve was like the US Dream Team of Basketball Domination. It was like Shaq and Jordan in their prime versus a High School Squad. It was a wake-up call for China and Russia. It was a stunning display of military prowess and intelligence and drone infiltration and sabotage.
Recent events in the Russia-Ukraine war and the aftermath of the 2025 Iran-Israel conflict show that both Russia and Iran have struggled to fully prevent drone penetrations that have damaged air bases, military facilities, and other critical infrastructure. This vulnerability aligns with your broader thesis on U.S. (and allied) dominance in stealth, infiltration, and multi-domain operations, as seen in Operation Absolute Resolve against Venezuela.
Russia’s air defenses have faced repeated Ukrainian long-range drone strikes throughout late 2025 and into early 2026, with significant impacts on air bases and strategic aviation.
A major Ukrainian drone operation in June 2025 targeted multiple deep Russian airfields, damaging or destroying dozens of strategic bombers. Russia has not fully recovered from this, with ongoing effects on its air force capabilities despite increased production of interceptors.
Ongoing strikes in December 2025–January 2026: Ukrainian drones have hit air bases in occupied Crimea (Belbek), southern Russia (Lipetsk, Khanskaya), and other rear areas. These have damaged Su-27, Su-30 fighters, and logistics hubs, often using smuggled or long-range one-way attack drones.
During the June 2025 Israel-Iran war (Operation Rising Lion), Israel used smuggled small drones launched from inside Iran to sabotage air defenses, ballistic missile launchers, and other facilities. This enabled follow-on airstrikes that destroyed ~1/3 of Iran’s mobile launchers and constrained its retaliatory missile barrages.
Operation Absolute Resolve on January 3, 2026, saw U.S. forces capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro right from his fortified compound in Caracas. This wasn’t just a win. It was a total humiliation, proving the U.S. has assembled a dream team of next-level capabilities that make adversaries look like a high school basketball squad facing Shaq in his prime.
The US could have done a lot less after finding Madura and tracking him. They could have used a missile or some other means to easily kill him. Instead the US chose to dominate and capture him in their capital city.
With integrated stealth drones, special ops, intelligence infiltration, cyber hacking, and overwhelming air power, the U.S. didn’t just beat Venezuelan defenses—they dominated them, despite Russian and Chinese gear and Cuban assistance.
This operation signals that even powers like Iran, North Korea, and potentially China and Russia could face similar fates if they rely on comparable systems without ramping up readiness and integration. If they can’t counter U.S. intel and stealth infiltration, their defenses would be sabotaged and degraded before they have a chance to use them.
Overview of Operation Absolute Resolve
This U.S.-led mission involved elite Delta Force operators, backed by over 150 aircraft, cyber operations, and drone surveillance. In under three hours, with zero U.S. casualties, Maduro and his wife were extracted to face trial on narco-terrorism charges. Framed as law enforcement, it was essentially a decapitating kidnapping in a sovereign capital.
Venezuelan defenses, equipped with Russian S-300 missiles, Chinese radars, and Cuban advisors, were utterly overwhelmed. U.S. forces chose a high-risk capture over a simple drone strike, infiltrating the heart of enemy territory. Months of prep included full-scale replicas for rehearsals and real-time intel on Maduro’s patterns, culminating in precision airstrikes and cyber disruptions that neutralized threats.
Demonstrated U.S. Dominance and Capability Integration
This op showcased seamless integration of U.S. assets, turning it into a masterclass in multi-domain warfare.
Intelligence and Infiltration
Spies and drones tracked Maduro for months. They achieved total surprise against Cuban-assisted security.
Cyber and Electronic Warfare were used to disrupt and cripple communications. This left defenders blind and disorganized.
Air and Stealth Power
Stealth helicopters from the 160th SOAR inserted troops undetected, while SEAD missions crushed foreign-supplied defenses.
Delta Force breached the compound with surgical precision, capturing targets amid resistance.
Minimal Collateral as strikes were pinpoint, avoiding widespread destruction and emphasizing U.S. superiority.
It wasn’t victory—it was domination, embarrassing Venezuela and its backers.
Trump called it a showcase of American might. It was like a dominant Olympic gymnast nailing a triple-twist finish for flair after racking enough on points to win.
Historical Comparisons- From Conquistadors to Modern Raids
Operation Absolute Resolve echoes asymmetric triumphs like Spanish Conquistadors vs. Mayans.
The Conquistadors were a small, tech-superior force (U.S.) leverages advanced tools to crush a vastly larger but outmatched armies (Venezuela with foreign gear).
Operation Neptune Spear (Bin Laden, 2011) was Similar stealth raid, but this was bolder—against state forces in a capital, not a hideout.
Operation Just Cause (Panama, 1989) was where the US captured Noriega on drug charges, but Absolute Resolve was more precise, no occupation needed, thanks to 37 years of tech evolution.
Shaq Dunking on High Schoolers. Venezuela’s degraded military couldn’t contest the U.S. slam. It highlights a massive capability gap.
Assessing the Massive Capability Gap: Dream Team vs. the World
New drone capability and integrated with espionage and special operations is something that traditional defenses have not been able to stop. This means most world militaries like Venezuela, Mexican cartels, or smaller dictatorships are vulnerable. Iran and Russia and other countries have shown vulnerability.
Penetrating a capital with significant foreign defenses proves the U.S. can humiliate mid-tier foes at will.
Venezuela ranked at number 50 out of 145 nations in the 2025 Global Firepower Index. They have around 120,000 personnel on active duty in its military, another 100,000 troops in reserves, as well as over 220,000 personnel in the National Guard. Its Air Force is estimated at around 20,000 personnel, the army at 115,000, and the Navy at 25,500.
Venezuela’s air force is estimated to have over 80 combat aircraft, including two dozen Su-30MK2 multirole fighters – many of them armed with Kh-31 “Krypton” anti-ship missiles – and 18 modernized F-16 Fighting Falcons. Its Navy is equipped with two Type 209-class submarines, six Lupo-class frigates, half a dozen corvettes, over 40 patrol vessels and more than 10 fast attack craft. Its coastal areas are equipped with shore-based anti-ship missile batteries. The army has over 700 main battle tanks, mainly the T-72B1 models, and around 1,500 armored fighting vehicles.
Iran and North Korea are relying on similar Russian/Chinese gear. They would face suppression via cyber and SEAD. U.S. infiltration could enable targeted raids.
Even China and Russia could get dominated. Russia has shown drone infiltration vulnerability. If they can’t defend against U.S. intelligence and stealth drone infiltration, defenses get sabotaged and degraded internally. Higher readiness and integration are musts—Russia’s Ukraine experience shows vulnerabilities. China’s A2/AD bubbles could crumble under multi-domain pressure. It’s not guaranteed humiliation, but the gap favors the U.S. in precision ops, potentially deterring rogues while sparking arms races.
Absolute Resolve marks a leap in U.S. warfare, validating integrated capabilities at an elite level. There could be a flashy finishing operation from the USA to complete the fall of the Iran regime.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
“Every industrialized nation has secret services and networks on foreign soil to recruit local operatives.
They are likely working right now to target groups that are not happy about the Maduro arrest.”
What are you TALKING about? What is your PROOF?
Military superiority is rarely the hardest part. The real challenge is what happens next. Years later, countries targeted by U.S. interventions—like Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan—are in a far worse situation in terms of stability, security, and living conditions.
Yesterday, the State department told ALL Americans to vacate Venezuela, including embassy staff, immediately. They can’t guarantee their safety among the roving motorcycle American-hunting gangs tied to the government known as colectivos.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/mobs-motorcycle-riding-armed-militia-hunt-venezuelan-streets-trump-supporters-crackdown-intensifies
America wins battles but loses wars to grinding homegrown resistance. America is very good at staged, multi-force multiplied attacks, costing billions, which no other military can match. But it’s unsustainable, and with cheap drones and easily available guns, even anti-aircraft weapons, may be ultimately obsolete.
“Mr. Exxon,” as Trump called the head of Exxon whose name he couldn’t remember, said that Venezuela is uninvestible at this time. Reports of transferred barrels of oil to American receivers are probably exaggerated or simply untrue. They may never be true. It is more dangerous for Americans in Venezuela today than a week ago. In some ways, getting rid of Maduro made things better for the existing regime, rather than worse.
See if they start taking back their criminal migrants and stop sending more to America. See if they start “paying” for their nationalizing the oil industry with oil.
See if American oil companies dare to reinvest in years long infrastructure rebuilds and how much expensive and scarce American military personnel it takes to make them feel safe during that time.
Exactly.
Especially because many south America and central America, countries, Mexico, Canada, China and Denmark to mention just a few, have an interest in making US burn it’s military and political capital in Venezuela, so that they cannot deploy it elsewhere.
Furthermore, what happend in Afghanistan is a cautionary tale for any company willing to invest in US-occupied territories: even in 20 years of persistent (and costly) occupation US did not manage to build a consensus and the system reverted to its initial state literally within a week from the withdrawal if the troops. All the infrastructure built by foreign companies were then destroyed or seized.
I might add also: given the track record of trump in betraying allies in the occupied territories (the Kurds, the Afghans to mention a few) and the declared unwillingness to take them in US if they will have to flee their country, I am not sure US will find many willing to risk their life on the ground. Not from Venezuela nor from Europe or Canada.
Venezeula isn’t the Middle East. It’s a fatuous observation to say one group of foreigners is the same as another or they will act the same. Esp when we have seen the overall reactions of Venezeulans and their diaspora.
Well, I am not the one who makes weird generalizations!
I am not the one who thinks all the Latin Americans are r*pist or insane (confusing asylum seekers with psychiatric asylum patients, by the way).
All the black/brown people come from sh*thole countries and so on…
Especially, I am not the one who thinks that technological capabilities will lead to a blitzkrieg, because, breaking news! It never does.
-It did not work for Russia in its 3 days special military operation in Ukraine (not a Middle Eastern country)
-It did not work for US (and also the USSR) in Afghanistan (ok, this is middle east)
-It did not work for Cuba (not in the Middle East)
-It did not work for Vietnam (again, not in the Middle East)
-it definitely did not work for the Third Reich in Europe (not middle east)
Every time is always the same story: we have better weapons, better intelligence, better reasons… we will win in no time!
It does not work that way.
Every time there is a tinsy little detail that seems to be somewhat neglected, moving troops to a foreign land is the EASY part!
Controlling the land in a meaningful and productive way requires orders of magnitude more people. There are still separatist movements in nations that have been unified/conquered CENTURIES ago!
“Well, I am not the one who makes weird generalizations!
I am not the one who thinks all the Latin Americans are r*pist or insane (confusing asylum seekers with psychiatric asylum patients, by the way).
All the black/brown people come from sh*thole countries and so on…”
You did that above and Trump isn’t in this conversation, nor did he say what you claimed he did.
“Especially, I am not the one who thinks that technological capabilities will lead to a blitzkrieg, because, breaking news! It never does.
-It did not work for Russia in its 3 days special military operation in Ukraine (not a Middle Eastern country)
-It did not work for US (and also the USSR) in Afghanistan (ok, this is middle east)
-It did not work for Cuba (not in the Middle East)
-It did not work for Vietnam (again, not in the Middle East)
-it definitely did not work for the Third Reich in Europe (not middle east)”
AGAIN-
What are you TALKING about?
A *Blitzkreig*? A specific style of warfare?
You are absolutely GOOFY.
You stated that we could not generalize from what happened in Afghanistan because Afghanistan is a Middle Eastern country, while Venezuela is not.
My comment tried to explain to you that we also have multiple examples from many not-middle-eastern countries where a technologically advanced military force (oftentimes the US but not only) tried to conquer a territory, hoping (and sometimes even claiming) a fast victory.
They all failed.
That being said, this is my last reply to you because I think you do not care about an honest discussion.
Good luck with your life.
“My comment tried to explain to you that we also have multiple examples from many not-middle-eastern countries where a technologically advanced military force (oftentimes the US but not only) tried to conquer a territory, hoping (and sometimes even claiming) a fast victory.”
Except this isn’t conquest of territory and the Venezeulans, and their diaspora, largely support Maduro’s ousting. So you will need to narrow your examples to ones that are applicable.
“They all failed.”
Is the conquered Venezeulan territory in the room with us right now?
You counter roving gangs by rounding them up. The place was lawless for how long?
The assets? Yes we will likely recoop the nationalized assets. That and the 50million barrels and few oil tankers we seized. You left that out didnt ya?
You need boots on the ground and/or local support to “round up” people.
US track record on the subject is abysmal:
A) They spent 20 years in Afghanistan with boots on the ground, achieving nothing.
B) They betrayed the local portions of the population that helped them in those 20 years, leaving most of them to the Taliban when they withdrew the troops.
C) DOGE and Trump also destroyed soft power tools not immediately associated with US foreign policy (like many support programs and the participation in UN agencies programs) that could help gain local support even when people did not want to work directly with US powers
Uh no you don’t.
Not foreign anyways. Funny, El Salvador did exactly that. How many American soldiers took part in that?
It is quite funny to mention the russo-ukranian war while conveniently leave out that one of the main targets of cheap drones impossible to intercept are oil refineries.
Trump clearly stated that he moved to control the oil. Apparently his advisors forgot to mention that issue to him too.
I am pretty sure that Maduro loyalist and whoever wants to keep the US tangled up in Venezuela will be happy to provide thousands of cheap drones.
Russia controlled it’s territory more stringently than how US monitors Venezuela yet they lost 1/3 of their oil processing capabilities due to attacks from a foreign enemy. Imagine what could happen in Venezuela.
No it isn’t because Ukraine is a state actor. Same as Israel.
So who is hitting these refineries? Some shadow group in Venezeula? Hitting their OWN nations oil refineries that benefits their own nation?
Yea, ok.
So, it did not cross your mind that other state actors targeted by Trump rethoric might be interested in:
A) force US to waste more money/military resources/political capital in Venezuela
B) demonstrate to the US political class (and population) that invading another country is not convenient.
It should be pretty obvious, really.
Every industrialized nation has secret services and networks on foreign soil to recruit local operatives.
They are likely working right now to target groups that are not happy about the Maduro arrest. Sure, some of these people will jump to the US side to remain in power, but others might not be willing to do so, or could not do so, because too linked to Maduro. These actors are the ones that will be interested in making US permanence in Venezuela as costly and as ineffective as possible, for as long as possible.
As I already said in another comment, the US and specifically Trump administration:
A) betrayed big segments of the local operatives they had in Afghanistan and Syria, making risky for locals to pick the US side.
B) weakened the strategic relationship with Europe, Canada, Mexico, Australia and Japan, making traditional allies less willing to help the US, and maybe even interested in seeing the US (or at least trump) get burned very badly on this operation.
C) Spoke very poorly of Latin Americans, especially people from Venezuela, making even more difficult to have PR and cultural support in the whole area.
D) Destryed soft-power tools like USAID that have been used for decades as a way to gain a foothold in poor countries
All these steps make it very unlikely that the US will manage to gain more than a pyrrhic victory or a PR stunt out of the Maduro operation
So…WHAT foreign state actors? Uow are they getting them in? Because the ops by Ukraine and Israel took a lot of planning and timing and this is tantamount to an act of war.
So…WHO is willing to launch a huge drone strike on Venezeulan refineries and declare war on Venezeuala to get at the US?
Obviously not someone with Maduro or a Venezeulan like you said because that is idiotic
Aren’t you aware that intelligence operations recruit people on the ground?
You will have groups that will simply manage to get their hands on drones and use them.
It is not that difficult: every intelligence agency has a budget, they buy stuff, and they send it to people on the ground. Very often, the people on the ground do not even know that they are doing the dirty work for an intelligence agency, they only know that “Uncle Al” is really good at providing drones, “Bob” figured out the rotation of the guards in a given facility, and “Carl” is really good at procuring fake IDs, all for the good of the cause (whichever causes suit the situation).
You will not get a bomb with a nice Legoland card “with love from Denmark” or a pignatta full of explosives with written all over “ola from Mexico”. You will simply suffer many more attacks than you expected.
“Aren’t you aware that intelligence operations recruit people on the ground?”
…YES.
WHAT foreign state actors are you specifically talking about that would declare war in Venezeula?
I ask again.
ok. I will explain it again:
Foreign state actors WILL NOT DECLARE WAR.
They will use intelligence to disrupt US operations requiring
A) US to focus more resources there
B) making US military operation look bad (both in US and in Venezuela)
C) reduce the appeal of investments there
Regarding the nations that might finance such operations:
A) Canada and Mexico have no interest in having a US presidency emboldened by successes in military occpations, so they might do it, to reduce the likelyhood of invasion against themselves.
B) Denmark (by itself or the EU as a whole) might want to curb Trump attention against greenland
C) China, obviously, is interesed in US military to burn resources they might stockpile otherwise.
D) All the neighboring latin america nations and Panama: since Trump considers acceptable invade a latin american country they might want to keep him busy, and/or make him realize is not a good idea.
I hope it helps.
I explained quite clearly.
If you still do not understand it, I don0t know what I can do for you.
“ok. I will explain it again:
Foreign state actors WILL NOT DECLARE WAR.
They will use intelligence to disrupt US operations requiring
A) US to focus more resources there
B) making US military operation look bad (both in US and in Venezuela)
C) reduce the appeal of investments there”
Incorrect.
Attacking infrastructure like this is declaring war. Maybe not openly saying it, but it is.
“B) Denmark (by itself or the EU as a whole) might want to curb Trump attention against greenland”
Denmark is not going to attack Venezeulan infrastructure to get at the US. You are absolutely nuts.
“C) China, obviously, is interesed in US military to burn resources they might stockpile otherwise.”
Neither is China. And neither is that going to burn through US military resources because they are VENEZEULAN infrastructure or maybe (maybe) private foreign national assets and not US military sites.
Nothing you have said makes any sort of real world sense. If you are going to come up with bizarre hypotheticals, have it grounded somewhere in reality.
“A) Canada and Mexico have no interest in having a US presidency emboldened by successes in military occpations, so they might do it, to reduce the likelyhood of invasion against themselves.”
Just so we are clear-
In this guy’s mind, Canada might launch a drone attack on Venezeulan infrastructure to reduce an invasion of Canada by the United States that will never take place.
You are absolutely looney.
He thinks Mexico or Canada might launch coordinated drone attacks on Venezeulan infrastructure to somehow tie down the US military.
Wow folks.
Soft power like USAID. Oh yea. Let’s bankrupt the country to fund the 3rd world. Idiotic.
And you actually mentioned that American allies would blow of Venezeulan refineries to get at the US because Trump did mean things?
Are you LISTENING to your hair brained statements?
Did you ever see the USAID institution speech by JFK? Watch it (you will find it on youtube). It states exactly why it was instituted and what it was doing.
Obviously, Trump lacks any strategic view, so he could not understand its value.
Anyway, just for your knowledge, EVERY industrialized nation uses relief programs and agencies as soft-power projection tools.
IT HAS ALWAYS WORKED AND IS NOT SOMETHING THE US DISCOVERED.
The Romans lost money building aqueducts and roads in border provinces; they did it because it stabilized the consensus in the regions, allowed for better integration and the, long-time absorption within the empire.
ROMANS HAD THE STRONGEST MILITARY FOR LONGER THAN THE US EVER EXISTED. YET THEY RELIED MORE ON INVESTMENTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
GO FIGURE
“Did you ever see the USAID institution speech by JFK? Watch it (you will find it on youtube). It states exactly why it was instituted and what it was doing.”
JFK made that before the US was 38 trillion in debt. Is the juice worth the squeeze to be providing foreign aid to every nation on the planet? No.
“ROMANS HAD THE STRONGEST MILITARY FOR LONGER THAN THE US EVER EXISTED. YET THEY RELIED MORE ON INVESTMENTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
GO FIGURE”
…they were building ROMAN structures. Not handing out foreign aid, you dolt. Every investment they made was for the purposes of eventually recouping it with taxes by the citizens there.
“Obviously, Trump lacks any strategic view, so he could not understand its value.”
Well you obviously have really bad TDS. That much is apparent.
“ROMANS HAD THE STRONGEST MILITARY FOR LONGER THAN THE US EVER EXISTED. YET THEY RELIED MORE ON INVESTMENTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
GO FIGURE”
…they were ROMAN structures that were built. They weren’t handing out foreign aide to the Celts.
“Obviously, Trump lacks any strategic view, so he could not understand its value.”
I’m so glad you have such rampant TDS on display.