The U.S. Air Force conducted what it called a “bomber attack demonstration mission” in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility last week, according to information newly released by the service.
Three B-52H Stratofortress bomber aircraft flew off the coast of Venezuela on Oct. 15. The flight of the bombers first came to public attention due to open-source flight tracking data and has since been described by the Air Force as a bomber attack demonstration.
Air Forces Southern shared images of the mission on its Facebook page, adding that it was intended to demonstrate “U.S. commitment to proactively deter adversary threats to the U.S. homeland and the region, enhance crew training, and ensure the global force readiness necessary to respond to any contingency or challenge.”
The bombers, assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing, were accompanied by two Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II fighter jets, which can fly at supersonic speed and have vertical lift technology that allows them to take off without needing a runway.
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The flights come at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Venezuela. In March, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on countries importing Venezuelan oil.
The Pentagon has been conducting a series of lethal strikes against vessels off the coast of Venezuela, including against a narco-submarine confirmed by Colombian authorities to have been transporting cocaine.
Adm. Alvin Holsey, the U.S. Navy commander who supervised the military strikes in the Caribbean Sea, announced Oct. 16 he was leaving his post.
Venezuela and Maduro’s government have been raising U.S. national security alarms for well over a decade, with a spike in recent collaboration with Iran and ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps seen as particularly troubling.
In June 2022, a U.S. Army report established that a Boeing 747 of Venezuelan origin, which claimed to be transporting auto parts from Mexico to Argentina, was found to have been piloted by a member of Iran’s IRGC’s Quds force. This followed allegations made by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2020 that Venezuela was using aircraft in political attempts to destabilize the United States.
Increasing cooperation between Iran and Maduro’s government has given rise to suspicions reported by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that Iran was outsourcing “suicide drone” production to Venezuela. Calling attention to Iranian presence and drug trafficking in the region, a RAND Corporation in August 2024 called for Venezuela to be regarded as a narco-state.
Venezuela has long been a drug trafficking corridor, with a U.S. Department of State report from 2016 describing Venezuela as a launch-point for “go-fast” boats, cargo containers and fishing vessels containing drug shipments, as well as aircraft launched from near the Colombian border.
However, cocaine production has been on the rise in Venezuela since 2022, with some analysts alleging that the Maduro government has used illicit cocaine trafficking as a means of statecraft.
Illegal cocaine imports into the United States have been very high in recent years, with a noticeable uptick in the bulk in shipments seized in drug busts. Data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that about 60 pounds of cocaine were seized per drug bust in fiscal 2024 compared to only 24 in 2020.
Zita Ballinger Fletcher previously served as editor of Military History Quarterly and Vietnam magazines and as the historian of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. She holds an M.A. with distinction in military history.
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