This is the EA-18G Growler, the US electronic warfare plane that blocked Venezuela’s radars and defense systems

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It is about the F-35 Lightning II, whose software and sensors allow detecting, interfering and deceiving enemy defenses as part of their combat survival functions. Also the F-22 Raptor, which thanks to their stealth design and fused sensor systems contribute to airspace dominance and threat suppression, cooperating with other electronic assets in the combat network. and he E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, an airborne early warning and control aircraft that provides electronic space sensors and alert that help identify and coordinate responses to threats. All of them were complemented by ISR reconnaissance drones.

In the case of EA-18G Growler, the mainstay of US electronic warfare, analysts have noted that it jammed and neutralized US radars. Venezuelaand “blinded” and disoriented its anti-aircraft defensescomposed mostly of Russian and Chinese design systems.

Thomas Withington, an electronic warfare expert at the Royal United Services Institute, explained to The Wall Street Journal that the EA-18G Growler can even simulate multiple aircraft on enemy radar by sampling their pulse and sending it back, in a tactic of decoy that hides the real location.

In addition to deceiving the enemy, it breaks tracking and degrades the guidance of rival missiles.

So, the fundamental work of EA-18G Growler and the other aircraft allowed the US to bomb strategic points in several cities in Venezuela without further response, and capture and remove from the country Ripe and his wife Cilia Flores.

A plane designed to “turn off” the enemy

Unlike traditional fighters, the EA-18G Growler does not seek to destroy targets with bombs, but nullify the adversary’s ability to see, communicate and react.

Its central mission is the so-called Airborne Electronic Attack. In simple terms: jamming radars, blocking military communications, fooling sensors and opening safe corridors so that other aircraft – fighters, helicopters or transport planes – can operate without being detected.

Therefore, in US military doctrine, the EA-18G Growler usually flies before or together with the rest of the fleetacting as a “invisible shield”.

The EA-18G Growler is manned by two people: a pilot and an electronic warfare officer. It is driven by two General Electric F414 engineswhich allow it to reach speeds close to Mach 1.8 and operate at more than 15,000 meters high.

Among its most relevant systems are: electronic detection sensorscapable of locating enemy radars at great distances. Interference Pods that block or saturate radar and communications signals. AESA radarwhich allows it to operate even in highly hostile environments.

Although it is not its main function, the Growler can carry anti-radiation missilesdesigned to destroy enemy radars, and air-to-air missiles to self defense.

In short, the power of EA-18G Growler It is not measured in tons of explosives, but in its capacity to paralyze an entire defensive system without needing to fire a single missile.

Its design responds to a clear logic: in modern conflicts, who controls the information and signals controls the battlefield. Without radars and reliable communications, an air defense is practically useless. That happened to Venezuela

The Growler is key in missions such as: suppression of air defenses, protection of special forces, support of rapid and high-precision raids and covert or low-profile military operations.

Venezuela had the most sophisticated anti-aircraft system in the region, but it was neutralized

The defense and intelligence specialist Andrés Gómez de la Torre holds The Commerce that the Operation Absolute Resolution was structured in two major phases clearly differentiated. The first was a extractive phaseof a punctual and surgical nature, aimed directly at the capture of Maduro, although—he acknowledges—with some inevitable collateral damage. The second, developed in parallel, was a punitive phasefocused on Comprehensive neutralization of Venezuelan air defense systems.

According to the analyst, this second stage aimed to dismantle one of the pillars of the country’s military infrastructure: the layered air defense systembuilt for years with technological support from China and Russia. In this framework they combined Chinese-made radars with Russian anti-aircraft missile and artillery systemswhich made Venezuela—in his opinion—the country with the most sophisticated anti-aircraft system in Latin America.

Gómez de la Torre explains that the Electronic warfare played an absolutely decisive roleby neutralizing both point defense and zone defense radars, mostly of Chinese origin. These systems, which were supposed to detect and react to air raids, were left inoperative from the first phases of the operation. “The response capacity was zero,” emphasizes the specialist, even in the case of short-range systems such as Pantsirdesigned precisely to protect strategic installations.​

The analyst details that Venezuela It had a wide range of anti-aircraft weapons, including S-300 Antey, buk, Pantsirsystems SAM-3 Pechora repoweredportable missiles SAM-16, SAM-18 and SAM-24in addition to modernized anti-aircraft artillery. However, this entire structure—considered state-of-the-art in the regional context—was ineffective compared to the technological architecture deployed by the United States.

In this context, Gómez de la Torre highlights how the role of the EA-18G Growler is fundamentalto which he attributes a central role in the dismantling of the Venezuelan layered system. However, he warns that the success of the operation cannot be attributed to a single platform. “We should not limit ourselves only to the EA-18G,” he points out, and highlights that they also participated other vectors with advanced electronic capabilitieslike the F-35 Lightning II and the F-22 Raptor.

For the specialist, it was precisely this combination of electronic capabilitiesintegrated within a working group designed specifically for the mission—including the so-called Operation Southern Lance—which allowed completely annul a defensive system that, until that moment, was considered the most advanced in the region.