Two U.S. fighter jets were tracked circling the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday, adding to rising tensions between Washington and Caracas.
The F/A-18 Super Hornets appeared on flight-tracking platforms near Maracaibo—Venezuela’s second-largest city—around 13:00 (17:00 GMT) and continued circling the gulf for roughly 40 minutes.
A U.S. defense official told the Associated Press that the aircraft were carrying out a “routine training flight” in the region.
The sighting comes as the U.S. continues a series of strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea that the White House claims were transporting drugs from Venezuela to the United States. The operations, which have killed more than 80 people, have drawn scrutiny from legal experts questioning their legitimacy.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has accused the United States of using the recent strikes to destabilize the country and remove him from power.
In an interview with Politico conducted a day before the jets neared Venezuela's coastline, Trump said Maduro’s days in office were “numbered” and declined to say whether he would consider deploying U.S. troops to the country.
Flight data also showed an EA-18G Growler appearing shortly before the F/A-18s on the tracking site FlightRadar24, flying loops just north of Venezuela’s coast.
These sightings mark the latest in a series of unusual U.S. military aviation activities in the region since September. B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bombers have previously flown near or along the Venezuelan coast, but the F/A-18s—capable of striking ground and air targets—appear to be the first to approach so visibly in recent months. Flight data indicates the jets came within 20 nautical miles of the coastline, though a U.S. official said they remained in international airspace.
Neither the F/A-18s nor the Growler listed a point of origin or destination on FlightRadar24, and all three aircraft activated their transponders only upon reaching the area near Venezuela’s coast. Justin Crump, CEO of the risk consultancy Sibylline, suggested the flights were likely intended to “support the administration’s signalling and put pressure on the [Venezuelan] leadership.”
The F/A-18s—flying under the callsigns RHINO11 and RHINO12—completed six loops along the Gulf of Venezuela, while the Growler, operating as GRIZZLY2, circled the coastline.
Greg Bagwell, a former RAF air marshal and president of the Air and Space Power Association, told BBC Verify that the flights appeared to be “probing” Venezuelan defenses, monitoring any reactions such as radio communications or encrypted signals linked to military systems.
“The Growlers would have been gathering signals intelligence, while the Super Hornets provided air-defense cover,” Bagwell said, adding that the Growlers were also capable of detecting “active missile sites.” He noted that the activity could represent early intelligence-gathering for future operations — or simply serve as a warning.
Crump added that the aircraft also had the ability to test “jamming capabilities,” saying such efforts could be intended to show Venezuela’s leadership that its defensive systems “cannot or should not be relied upon.”
The United States has increased its military presence in the Caribbean in recent months, deploying troops, ships, and jets — a buildup officials say is aimed at fighting drug trafficking in the region.
On Tuesday, U.S. Southern Command released photos of an F/A-18 operating from the USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, which has been positioned in the Caribbean.
Analysis of satellite imagery and ship-tracking data by BBC Verify has identified at least nine U.S. military vessels deployed to the region in recent weeks. Satellite images also reveal that an airbase in Puerto Rico, closed by the Pentagon in 2004, has been reactivated. Repairs have been made to the runway at Roosevelt Roads, and F-35s — America’s most advanced fighter jets — have been stationed there.
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