Venezuela’s president has been warning that his armed forces have deployed 5,000 Russian-made Igla-S anti-aircraft missiles across its territory, at a moment President Trump has ordered an unprecedented force build-up in the Caribbean.
“Any military force in the world knows the power of the Igla-S, and Venezuela has no less than 5,000,” Nicolas Maduro said during a televised address to military personnel.
The Pentagon confirmed Friday it has redirected a carrier strike group from the Mediterranean to the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) are of operations to join the significant amount of warships already patrolling waters of Venezuela’s coast.
On Friday, Trump was asked about recent reports that Maduro offered “everything in his country, all the natural resources” to ease tensions with Washington. Caracas has denied these reports.
But contradicting the denials, Trump said at the White House that Maduro had offered “everything” because “he doesn’t want to f**k around with the United States.”
Weekend reports say that the Venezuelan military continues to deploy additional arms to its coast, in anticipation for possible US military action. Trump has said that “land” targets are an option on the table.
It’s unknown whether Venezuela’s military actually has thousands of Igla-S systems. The weapon is typically compared to the US Stinger missile, as it can hit low-flying aircraft, drones, and helicopters at ranges reaching a little less than four miles.
Maduro orders ‘ALL’ Russian arms to coast opposite Pentagon mass buildup pic.twitter.com/wFvvHxBw0P
— RT (@RT_com) October 25, 2025
The source Army Recognition writes:
President Maduro’s focus on MANPADS (MAN-Portable Air-Defense missile System) SA-24 Igla-S fits a broader picture of Venezuelan point-defense layers built over the past decade, in which shoulder-fired systems complement legacy short-range air defenses and anti-air artillery. Recent technical reviews describe an inventory that pairs MANPADS such as the Russian Igla-S with Sweden’s laser-guided RBS-70, backed by mobile batteries and radar coverage designed to complicate any attacker’s route selection at low altitude. The concept is not to defeat a modern air force outright but to raise attrition and force higher-risk flight profiles.
But these short-range missiles will be no match for large American warships, and certainly not the Ford Carrier Group – said to now be en route.
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