06.09.2025 - 20:01 [ Navy Times ]

Venezuelan fighter jets conduct ‘show of force’ near US Navy vessel

A set of Venezuelan military aircraft flew near a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters Thursday, two days after the U.S. said it struck a Venezuelan drug vessel, according to a Defense Department statement posted to X.

Two Venezuelan F-16s conducted the aggressive maneuver over the USS Jason Dunham, an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer, in a clear “show of force,” a U.S. defense official confirmed to Navy Times.