Venezuela: The Secret US Weapon China and Russia Couldn’t Stop | Taiwan Talks EP751

During the US special operation in Caracas that captured President Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuela military’s Chinese and Russian-made equipment turned out to be no match for America’s secret weapon. While many details remain classified, US forces successfully neutralized or bypassed Venezuela's air defenses, which potentially included Chinese JY-27A radars and HQ-9 and HQ-12 surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, as well as Russian S-300VMs and BUK M2Es. The US Air Force then landed Special Forces units, who apprehended the country's leader and exfiltrated him without a single US fatality. This required numerous high-tech systems — possibly EA-18G Growlers, MH-60M Black Hawks, RQ-170 Sentinels and/or AGM-88 HARM missiles — and personnel from multiple military branches and intelligence agencies working in unison. In this episode, we discuss these weapon systems, how the US was able to achieve such an overwhelming tactical victory, and what it means for a potential Chinese attack against Taiwan.
*Recorded on January 11, 2026 at 3pm Taiwan Standard Time

Host/Senior Producer: Yin Khvat
Consultant: Max Yu
Research Assistant: Ryan Pham

Our guests:
Tony Hu
- Former US Department of Defense Senior Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia
Guermantes Lailari
- US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.)
Kitsch Liao
- Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub Associate Director

Chapters:
00:00:00 – Russian, Chinese Defenses Fail in Venezuela
00:01:11 – China, Iran, Russia Converge for BRICS Drills
00:02:01 – US Military Tech on Display in Caracas Raid
00:17:37 – Chinese, Russian Weapons Don’t Save Maduro




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