The 3 January operation to capture Nicolás Maduro is striking for its use of manned helicopters to execute a high-risk mission, despite the presence of abundant air defense platforms.
Fascinating tactical framework for rotary airlift in contested airspace. The idea of layered drone protection (strike, suppression, intercept) mirroring ground-based APS is genuienly clever. I saw similar multi-layer defense thinking in some Air Land Battle doctrine from the 80s, but applying it to vertical envelopment with modern loitering systems feels fresh. The Caracas operation prob inflates feasibility though, since air superiority was esentially total.
Lots of interesting writing on air-mechanization in the 80s, with concepts for attack & assault helos to play the role of tanks & IFVs respectively. IMO it was always a bit fanciful - constraints in the air are just too great, even before accounting for the evolution of AD systems - but some of the ideas they sketched out deserve a second look.
Fascinating tactical framework for rotary airlift in contested airspace. The idea of layered drone protection (strike, suppression, intercept) mirroring ground-based APS is genuienly clever. I saw similar multi-layer defense thinking in some Air Land Battle doctrine from the 80s, but applying it to vertical envelopment with modern loitering systems feels fresh. The Caracas operation prob inflates feasibility though, since air superiority was esentially total.
Lots of interesting writing on air-mechanization in the 80s, with concepts for attack & assault helos to play the role of tanks & IFVs respectively. IMO it was always a bit fanciful - constraints in the air are just too great, even before accounting for the evolution of AD systems - but some of the ideas they sketched out deserve a second look.
Agree on the concepts .
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What was glossed over in all the accounts of the Maduro snatch was the role of Cyber and Space command only briefly being mentioned.
This is perfectly just, of course it shouldn’t be public.
It’s still very interesting.