Operation Absolute Resolve: Anatomy of a Modern Decapitation Strike

Check out “Operation Absolute Resolve: Anatomy of a Modern Decapitation Strike” at RealClear Defense.

This article by Josh Luberisse provides a detailed operational analysis of “Operation Absolute Resolve,” the U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026. The mission involved Delta Force operators inserted by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment into Caracas, successfully extracting Maduro in under three hours with minimal casualties. Luberisse examines the operation through the lens of asymmetric warfare, highlighting the five-month intelligence preparation by CIA ground teams, the comprehensive suppression of Venezuelan air defenses using over 150 aircraft, and the precision coordination that enabled special operations forces to achieve complete surprise despite conducting the raid during a full moon. The author frames the operation as a masterclass in modern joint military capabilities, demonstrating how the integration of human intelligence, stealth surveillance, electronic warfare, and special operations forces has compressed decision spaces for targets lacking peer-level defensive capabilities.

Key Takeaways from The Article:

The Intelligence Foundation

“The CIA had maintained a clandestine ground team in Venezuela since August 2025—five months of patient intelligence collection. This team provided what one source described as extraordinary insight into Maduro’s pattern of life that made grabbing him seamless.”

“An RQ-170 Sentinel—the same stealth drone platform that overflew Abbottabad before the Bin Laden raid—was observed returning to Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico after the operation.”

Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses

“Helicopter assaults into defended airspace are among the most dangerous operations in modern warfare. Venezuela’s air defenses, while not advanced by peer-competitor standards, included S-300VM systems, Buk-M2 medium-range SAMs, and extensive man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). The 160th SOAR’s MH-60M Black Hawks and MH-47G Chinooks are extraordinarily capable, but they’re still helicopters—vulnerable to anything that can put metal in the air.”

“Trump’s cryptic reference to the lights of Caracas being turned off due to a certain expertise points to attacks on power infrastructure—likely targeting military communications and radar systems dependent on the grid.”

The Direct Action Component

“The 160th SOAR’s helicopter force began ingress at 0601 UTC (0201 local) and was back over water by 0820 UTC—a ground time of approximately two hours including flight time into and out of Caracas.”

“One helicopter was damaged by ground fire but remained operational. Trump noted that ‘a couple of guys were hit’ but there were no U.S. fatalities. The low casualty count in a deep urban penetration against a defended target is remarkable and reflects both the effectiveness of the SEAD campaign and the precision of the intelligence that guided the assault.”

Doctrinal Implications

“The primacy of intelligence. Five months of patient collection enabled a three-hour operation. The ratio is instructive: the intelligence preparation phase was roughly 1,200 times longer than the kinetic phase. This is consistent with historical patterns in high-value target operations.”

“The compression of the kill chain. From intelligence confirmation to capture was measured in hours, not days. This tempo compression is the product of forward-positioned ISR assets, pre-approved strike authorities, and rehearsed assault teams.”

Historical Parallels

“Delta Force’s history with head-of-state captures includes Manuel Noriega (Panama, 1989), Saddam Hussein (Iraq, 2003), and now Maduro.”

“What distinguishes Absolute Resolve is the scale of the supporting SEAD campaign. Neither the Bin Laden nor al-Baghdadi raids required suppression of integrated air defense systems.”

“Operation Absolute Resolve demonstrates the current state of U.S. direct action capability: the ability to integrate persistent ISR, electronic warfare, air superiority, and ground special operations to achieve effects that would have been impossible a generation ago.”