E-3 AWACS joins four U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornets operating near Venezuela's maritime border

An E-3 AWACS has reappeared operating with U.S. combat aircraft near Venezuela as at least four F/A-18E Super Hornets were tracked over neutral waters adjacent to the country’s maritime border. The pairing increases U.S. airborne surveillance and strike-capable presence close to Venezuelan airspace.

Discovered 2025-12-18T13:06:38.588638-08:00 | 2025-12-18T13:06:38.588638-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

The visible deployment combines a high-end airborne early warning platform with at least four strike-capable F/A-18E jets, signalling an uptick in U.S. surveillance and combat power near Venezuelan waters and building on the recent carrier strike group movement to the region (see carrier strike group deployment) and earlier F/A-18 sorties (see F/A-18s tracked over Gulf of Venezuela).
Military flights in proximity to Venezuelan airspace have direct operational and safety implications for civil aviation; this follows public guidance to treat Venezuelan airspace as closed and incidents involving U.S. tankers near commercial traffic (see airlines advisory) and the JetBlue near-miss with a USAF tanker).

Reported By

militarywatchmagazine.com militarnyi.com 19fortyfive.com The War Zone tass.com