WASHINGTON – The U.S. military has amassed an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off the coast of Venezuela since this summer, when the Trump administration first began to shift assets to the region as part of its anti-drug trafficking operations.
In all, U.S. Southern Command says there are around 15,000 personnel operating in the area, in the largest military buildup in the region in generations.
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It is part of the Trump administration's escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the U.S., and includes a series of strikes on alleged drug-running boats that have killed more than 100 people since early September.
Here is a look at the ships, planes and troops in the region:
Ships
The Navy has 11 warships in the region — the nation's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, as well as five destroyers, three amphibious assault ships, and two cruisers.
The three amphibious assault ships make up an amphibious readiness group and carry an expeditionary unit of Marines. As a result, those ships also have on board a variety of Marine helicopters, Osprey tilt rotor aircraft and Harrier jets that have the capability of either transporting large numbers of Marines or striking targets on land and sea.
The USS Ford has multiple squadrons of fighter jets as well as other aircraft and helicopters.
While officials have not offered specific numbers, destroyers and cruisers typically deploy with a missile loadout that contains Tomahawk cruise missiles, which can strike hundreds of miles from their launch point.
A U.S. Navy submarine also is operating in the broader area of South America and is capable of carrying and launching cruise missiles.
Planes and drones
A squadron of advanced U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II jets has been sent to an airstrip in Puerto Rico. The planes were first spotted landing on the island territory in mid-September.
More recently, U.S. Navy EA-18G “Growler” electronic warfare jets were photographed flying out of Puerto Rico.
MQ-9 Reaper Air Force drones, capable of flying long distances and carrying up to eight laser-guided missiles, also have been spotted operating out of Puerto Rico by commercial satellites and military watchers, as well as photojournalists, around the same time in September.
It has been widely reported that the Navy also is operating P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft out of the region.
In October, the military released a photo of a U.S. Air Force AC-130J Ghostrider, a heavily armed plane capable of firing its large guns with precision onto ground targets, sitting on the tarmac in Puerto Rico.
There has been a multitude of other military aircraft that have temporarily flown through the region as part of military operations there.
The U.S. Air Force has repeatedly flown B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bombers to the region in what the Pentagon has said were training flights. However, at least one such flight was dubbed a “bomber attack demo” in photos online.
Recently, the U.S. military also flew a pair of F/A-18 fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela in what appears to be the closest American warplanes have come to the South American country’s airspace since the start of the campaign.
The gulf is bounded by Venezuela and only about 150 miles (240 kilometers) at its widest point. The planes spent more than 30 minutes flying in the area.
Troops
All told, about 15,000 personnel are in the region, with nearly 10,000 being the sailors and Marines aboard the warships. U.S. Southern Command refused to offer any formal breakdown of the total figure, citing operational security.
Lt. Col. Emanuel Ortiz, a spokesperson for Southern Command, said in an email that the total figure “includes all military services and government civilians in support of this mission.”
The Pentagon has not offered specific numbers on how many drones, aircraft or ground crew are in the region, so their impact on that broader figure is unknown.