After concluding their participation in Operation Absolute Resolve, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-22 Raptor stealth fighters departed Puerto Rico and returned to their home base at Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia. The aircraft had been temporarily deployed to the island as part of a broad air posture that supported the extraction operation of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, carried out on January 3, within the framework of recent U.S. military actions on Venezuelan territory.
At least a dozen F-22 Raptors from the 1st Fighter Wing departed on January 4 from Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, in eastern Puerto Rico, heading back to the continental United States. Images obtained by Zona Militar during its coverage confirmed the departure of the F-22s, while a large joint military presence from the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps remains in the city of Ceiba, along with a diverse array of U.S. aerial assets as part of the regional deployment in the Caribbean.
Among the assets observed at Roosevelt Roads were also F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, F-35B aircraft operated by the U.S. Marine Corps, as well as F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler fighters specialized in electronic warfare. On the ground, the presence of C-130J Super Hercules tactical transport aircraft and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters was noted, along with AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters, underscoring the scale of the deployment prior to the operation.
The simultaneous presence of these aircraft in the Caribbean highlighted the high level of joint coordination involved in the operation and the immediate power-projection capability of U.S. forces. The F-22s, in particular, represented the spearhead of the air component, contributing their stealth technology and air superiority during the initial phases of the incursion into Venezuelan territory, prior to the entry of the extraction force.
With the withdrawal of the Raptors, the United States appears to have opted to temporarily reduce its direct military footprint in the region, while the administration of President Donald Trump defines the next steps of its strategy toward Venezuela. Nevertheless, the possibility of new operations over continental territory or the continuation of counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea cannot be ruled out.
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