FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images
Two Venezuelan F-16 fighter aircraft buzzed a US Navy destroyer in international waters on Thursday. The Pentagon called the move “highly provocative.”
The incident raises tensions between the US and Venezuela and came just days after President Donald Trump authorized a strike on a suspected drug vessel that originated from the South American country.
In a statement Thursday evening, the Pentagon said that two Venezuelan military aircraft flew near a Navy vessel in international waters.
“This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations,” the Pentagon said, adding that “the cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the US military.”
CBS News, the first to report on the incident, identified the Venezuelan aircraft as F-16 fighter jets and the US ship as the USS Jason Dunham, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. Defense officials described the engagement as a “show of force.”
The Navy confirmed these details to Business Insider. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for further information on the incident.
US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kaitlin Young
Venezuela purchased some two dozen F-16s from the US in the 1980s, though it is believed to have only a few left in active service. It has been unable to maintain the jets, made by General Dynamics, due to arms embargoes that make it difficult for Venezuela to acquire the necessary spare parts to keep them flying. The country also operates a small fleet of Sukhoi Su-30 fighters.
Jason Dunham is one of several warships the Navy has deployed in recent weeks to the Caribbean and to waters near South America as Trump signals a more aggressive approach to drug cartels. The administration designated several of the groups as foreign terrorist organizations earlier this year.
The American flotilla includes three destroyers, a littoral combat ship, a cruiser, and an amphibious ready group, which consists of an assault vessel, two transport dock ships, and thousands of embarked US Marines and sailors.
The Navy also sent a guided-missile submarine to the Southern Command area of responsibility — encompassing the Caribbean and waters near Central and South America — and is operating P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft in the region.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whose government the US has long accused of supporting the drug cartels, has condemned the buildup of American forces in the area and announced the deployment of his own military assets in response.
Amid the rising tensions between Trump and Maduro, the US carried out a strike on what it said was a Venezuelan drug vessel in the Caribbean on Tuesday, killing nearly a dozen people on board. The attack marked a radical pivot away from decades of counter-narcotics operations, usually done by the US Coast Guard.
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