Recordings of U.S. strikes on Caracas during a lightning-fast operation aimed at capturing Maduro, called Absolute Resolve, show the Americans deploying kamikaze drones against multiple targets.
In several videos, a sound resembling the flight of a propeller UAV can be heard, followed by an impact. This indicates the use of kamikaze drones. The video compilation was produced by the OSINT community Faytuks Network, which highlighted this:
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From Defense Express we would like to note that while the sounds of these weapons differ from those of the Shahed drones, they are still clearly unlike the noise made by a cruise missile in flight. For comparison, we can reference a recording of a strike featuring the sound of a JSM missile, which uses a small turbofan engine similar to those found on Tomahawk or JASSM cruise missiles (hit at 0:25).
It is also worth noting that the sound of the propeller drone suggests that it has an electric motor rather than an internal combustion engine. It is also notable that the propeller drone combines relatively high speed with a considerable payload.
At the same time, the Pentagon has not officially disclosed any details of Operation Absolute Resolve, except that it involved more than 150 air assets and a naval group, including an aircraft carrier. Therefore, there is no information about the name of these drones or even their type.
Nevertheless, the fact that they were used during the U.S. operation deserves considerable attention. First, the U.S. military appears to be well-stocked with long-range missiles of various kinds. The aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) alone includes five Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, providing around 480 missile launcher cells, a third of which are for Tomahawks.
The operation also involved a few attack submarines, along with aviation: carrier-based aircraft, tactical aircraft from Puerto Rico airbase, and strategic aircraft from the United States. In other words, the Americans certainly had no shortage of traditional missile weapons for Operation Absolute Resolve.
Despite this, a decision was made to employ kamikaze drones not for experimental purposes, but as a full-fledged weapon whose effectiveness would determine the success of an extremely complex and risky operation. It shows that a tested approach was chosen, considered more effective than conventional missile strikes, representing the first time the U.S. employed kamikaze drones operationally.
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