The US operation to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro serves as a reminder for China to bolster its air defences and counter-intelligence protections, observers say.
Analysts in China described Venezuela’s air defences – which rely largely on Chinese and Russian technology – as “full of flaws and slow to react” amid the modern surveillance, cyber, and electronic warfare displayed by US forces in Saturday’s operation in Caracas.
The operation could serve as a further case study for China, which has been a long-time observer of US military operations, particularly since the 1991 Gulf war.
However, some Chinese analysts argued that the US targeted a much weaker adversary, making the operation less of a direct warning for major powers.
In a mission lasting less than three hours, US military units, including the elite Delta Force abducted Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their breached Caracas compound, airlifting them to a US warship before flying the couple to New York.
Venezuela boasts advanced Russian-made air defences, including the S-300VM surface-to-air missile system and Buk-M2 complexes, as well as Chinese-made JY-27A, JYL-1 radar systems. Venezuela also purchased the FK-3 surface-to-air missile from China.
This JY-27A radar system was allegedly “devastatingly paralysed” during the US airstrike, possibly due to electronic warfare suppression by the F-35 stealth jets, allowing US forces to enter Venezuela with impunity. The US military also destroyed Chinese-made radars and Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems.
However, the US forces were able to blind and disrupt these systems using advanced cyber and electronic warfare.
On Monday, in a speech hailing US military strength, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth mocked Venezuela’s air-defence system: “Seems those Russian air defences didn’t quite work so well, did they?”
More than 150 US military aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers and reconnaissance planes, flew into Venezuelan airspace for the operation, creating pathways for the helicopters while also striking radar and air defence batteries, according to US officials.
Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military analyst formerly with the air force, noted it was possible that US platforms had forced Venezuela’s radars to shut down.
“The US military is believed to have disrupted power and communications, potentially affecting radars and even their command systems. This suggests the operation was carefully planned to limit the ability to respond effectively,” Fu said.
“The S-300 system should theoretically remain on high alert, but it might not have reacted simply because it’s Soviet-era radar system was jammed and failed to any aircraft.”
But even if it were, Fu said it might not detect low-flying and high-altitude incoming targets, including helicopters.
In addition to S-300 systems, Venezuela deployed Chinese-made JY-27A surveillance radars – devices its manufacturer, China Electronics Technology Group, and state media describe as jam-resistant, highly reliable and mobile.
Fu said the radar itself was not attached to an air-defence firing system and might have struggled to detect helicopters and aircraft under complex terrain.
He added that air surveillance systems required complex coordination to function effectively.
“Air surveillance is not the task of a single radar system,” he said. “Venezuela’s defence and surveillance systems are full of flaws, with slow and delayed responses to emergencies, leading to significant losses.
“This could be closely tied to the military’s overall state of readiness.”
China has been closely studying US military operations for decades, from the first Gulf war to the conflict in Afghanistan.
The operation over the weekend mostly revealed existing US tactics rather than groundbreaking new methods, Fu said, while outlining the implications for China.
“Of course, we need to strengthen our air defence,” he said. “The same methods were used in the past, including electromagnetic jamming, stealth penetration, attacking radar stations, airfields and defence positions.
“This strategy has been in place for decades, and we’ve definitely been observing it.”
The swift US operation and arrest of narco-terrorist Maduro prompted animated discussion on Chinese social media, with some commenters seeing it as a lesson and calling for China to increase its power and economic standing to ensure national sovereignty.
Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at Tsinghua University’s National Institute of Strategic Studies, said the operation is a direct warning to China on the military front, given Chinese arms failed in Nigeria, Myanmar, Venezuela, Cambodia and Thailand.
Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, argued that stark military asymmetry between the US and Venezuela had enabled Washington’s aggressive strikes.
“Of course, China will need to strengthen its efforts against infiltration,” Li Wei added.
Li Wei said that Taiwan’s invasion might be a pipe dream for now, as Chinese arms are failing in Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
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