Network of Observers
According to the U.S. “War Zone” website local time on October 15, the U.S. Air Force three B-52 bombers flew to the “international airspace” near the Venezuelan coast of the morning, they were observed in the flight tracking platform and other ways. It is that the U.S. in the Caribbean flag “stop illegal drug transportation” massive military gathering, a “major show of force.” Trump has recently put “special pressure” on the Venezuelan president Maduro, and since August has also sent several destroyers and amphibious battleships to the waters near Venezuela. During this time, the U.S. military forces and ships conducted multiple interceptions of “illegal drug transportation” ships, with the passage of time, the possibility of direct military action against Venezuela has
The B-52 tracks were then shown on open source flight tracking platforms such as FlightRadar24. Social media
Tweets posted by open source intelligence accounts on some social media show that three B-52 bombers with call signs "BNUUY01" (Rabbit 01), "BUNNY02" (Rabbit 02) and "BUNNY03" (Rabbit 03) flew south from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana in the early morning of the 15th local time, and then flew eastward to an "international airspace" in the Maiquetia FIR off the coast of Venezuela. The B-52s circled in the FIR for about two hours before leaving. In addition, in recent weeks, Marine F-35Bs, possibly taking off from the former Roosevelt Road Naval Fleet in Puerto Rico, as well as U.S. Air Force tankers and other aircraft have also been observed operating in the nearby airspace.
According to unconfirmed reports, the Venezuelan Air Force has taken off at least one F-16 fighter aircraft from the Liberator Air Force base west of Caracas, looking from a low point close to the B-52, which is rotating at sea, but this could also be an independent and unrelated training flight, and it is unclear whether other aircraft have been sent to track the bombers.In addition, Venezuelan President Maduro confirmed a new rapid response exercise, and Maduro said in September that Venezuela had deployed about 250,000 troops to protect its borders and critical oil infrastructure from potential U.S. threats.
In addition, earlier in the day, a C-17 transport plane of the U.S. Air Force was also tracked flying from Edwards Air Force Base in California to Jose Appente de la Torre Airport in Puerto Rico, although Edwards Air Force Base is a well-known test training center of the U.S. Air Force rather than a combat force station. Recently, the U.S. military has carried out a large-scale military buildup in the Southern Caribbean. In addition to the above-mentioned aircraft, it also includes the Air Force MQ-9 "Reaper" drone and AC-130J gunboat aircraft. Among them, the AC-130J In addition to conventional In addition to interception and surveillance missions, it can also be used to provide direct support for special operations raid missions. In addition to the amphibious fleet, destroyers and cruisers at sea, a "Los Angeles" class attack nuclear submarine and the special operations mother ship "Ocean Merchant" also appeared here. Currently, about 10,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in the area.