U.S. Positions Record Number of F-35s in Puerto Rico Amid Intensifying Venezuela Tensions
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The United States has deployed roughly 20 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters to Puerto Rico, the largest known fifth-generation fighter presence ever assembled on the island. The move strengthens U.S. airpower close to Venezuela and signals a more forward, flexible posture in the Caribbean.
On December 21, 2025, a photograph taken by Ricardo Arduengo showing 20 F-35 Lightning II fighters lined up at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in eastern Puerto Rico crystallized a new phase in the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean, only a few hundred kilometers from Venezuela. As reported in recent days, the former Cold War base, closed in 2004 and officially reactivated in 2025, now hosts a mixed detachment of U.S. Air Force F-35A and U.S. Marine Corps F-35B aircraft, marking the largest publicly known concentration of fifth-generation fighters ever deployed on Puerto Rican soil. This deployment comes against the backdrop of Operation Southern Spear and a broader U.S. naval and air presence assembled around Venezuela under the stated banner of counter-narcotics and sanctions enforcement, but widely interpreted as a coercive instrument in the Venezuelan crisis. The combination of advanced stealth fighters, a refurbished staging base and growing maritime pressure on Venezuelan oil exports gives this move regional significance well beyond a routine rotation of aircraft.
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The appearance of roughly 20 U.S. F-35 stealth fighters at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico marks the largest such deployment on the island and underscores a sharpened American military posture toward Venezuela amid rising regional pressure (Picture Source: Ricardo Arduengo / Google Earth)
Arduengo’s image does more than document aircraft on a ramp; it captures the scale and density of a force package that would normally be associated with major combat operations. On the tarmac at Roosevelt Roads, ten F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing jets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 225 (VMFA-225) are now joined by additional F-35A conventional-takeoff fighters from the Vermont Air National Guard’s 134th Fighter Squadron, bringing the total to 20 aircraft. For a single forward base, that number is considerable: it is comparable to, or larger than, the entire frontline fighter fleets of some smaller air forces, and it is concentrated barely 500 miles (around 800–900 km) from the Venezuelan mainland.
Roosevelt Roads itself has been refurbished as a forward logistics hub, with its 11,000-foot runway, ample apron space and proximity to sea lines of communication making it ideal for staging both air and maritime assets. Within Operation Southern Spear, which has already brought an aircraft carrier, amphibious assault ships and thousands of troops into the region, the presence of two dozen fifth-generation fighters gives the United States a credible option to escalate rapidly from maritime interdiction to deep strikes if political decisions in Washington were to change.
From a purely technical perspective, the mix of F-35A and F-35B variants at Roosevelt Roads is tailored to the geography of the Caribbean and northern South America. The F-35A, the U.S. Air Force’s conventional take-off and landing version, combines low-observable shaping, internal weapons bays and advanced sensor fusion with a combat radius of roughly 1,200 kilometers on internal fuel, allowing it to reach targets deep inside Venezuelan territory and return without refueling. The F-35B, by contrast, sacrifices some fuel for its Rolls-Royce LiftSystem, enabling short takeoff and vertical landing operations from short runways or amphibious assault ships.
In the current configuration, F-35As at Roosevelt Roads can operate from a robust fixed base, while F-35Bs can disperse to smaller airstrips or decks at sea, complicating any adversary’s targeting calculus. Both share the same core avionics and data-fusion architecture, enabling them to operate as a single networked sensor and strike complex. In practical terms, this means the 20-jet package can detect, track and engage air and surface targets across the Caribbean basin, while sharing information with other U.S. assets such as maritime patrol aircraft, drones and surface combatants without necessarily revealing its own position.
Placing such a dense grouping of F-35s within easy reach of Venezuela radically changes the airpower balance in any scenario linked to the ongoing crisis. Venezuela’s Bolivarian Military Aviation still fields a limited number of Su-30MK2 multirole fighters and a small, aging contingent of F-16A/Bs, but chronic maintenance problems and sanctions have eroded sortie generation and readiness. Against this backdrop, 20 stealth fighters capable of penetrating air defenses, sharing targeting data and delivering precision munitions against mobile surface-to-air missile batteries, coastal radars, airbases or high-value command sites represent overwhelming qualitative superiority. The same aircraft can transition in a single mission from defensive counter-air to maritime strike, using their sensors to cue other platforms such as P-8 patrol aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones or surface ships already engaged in tracking sanctioned tankers and suspected drug-trafficking vessels. In practical terms, the Roosevelt Roads detachment can provide persistent air cover for the U.S. naval task force assembled off Venezuela, deter Venezuelan aircraft from aggressive maneuvers over international waters, and hold strategic infrastructure at risk without leaving the Caribbean theater.
Strategically, the deployment must be read alongside the broader evolution of Operation Southern Spear from a counter-drug campaign into a multi-vector pressure operation against Nicolás Maduro’s government. Officially, U.S. authorities frame the operation as aimed at “detecting, disrupting and degrading” illicit maritime networks, yet the same timeframe has seen more than twenty lethal strikes on suspected drug boats, the seizure of multiple tankers carrying Venezuelan crude, and the announcement of a blockade on sanctioned oil shipments. The reopening and rapid upgrading of Roosevelt Roads, together with expanded infrastructure at other Caribbean airfields, has been documented in detail by open sources and satellite imagery as part of a long-term staging concept aimed at operations “inside Venezuela” should they be ordered.
In response, Venezuela has not stood still: Maduro has sought Russian assistance for additional missiles, radar and combat aircraft, while Russian officials have publicly hinted at new deliveries of systems such as Pantsir-S1 and Buk-M2E to reinforce Venezuela’s already significant S-300VM-based air-defense network. Against this backdrop, the massed F-35 presence in Puerto Rico is a signal not just to Venezuela, but also to Moscow and other external actors, that any attempt to contest the air domain in a crisis would face a highly capable and forward-positioned U.S. force.
The concentration of 20 F-35s at Roosevelt Roads, captured in Ricardo Arduengo’s photograph, has therefore become an emblem of how the Venezuelan crisis is shifting from a primarily economic and political confrontation to one in which advanced airpower is central to the balance of risks and options. The deployment provides the United States with a flexible tool: it can remain a visible but non-kinetic deterrent backing up maritime interdiction and diplomatic pressure, or, if the political decision were made, it could form the spearhead of a rapid strike campaign designed to neutralize Venezuelan air defenses and key military assets. At the same time, its very presence encourages counter-moves, from Russian arms deliveries to Venezuelan military exercises, that deepen the militarization of the Caribbean. The coming weeks will show whether this unprecedented F-35 presence serves primarily as a brake on escalation or as an accelerant in an already volatile regional crisis.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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The United States has deployed roughly 20 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters to Puerto Rico, the largest known fifth-generation fighter presence ever assembled on the island. The move strengthens U.S. airpower close to Venezuela and signals a more forward, flexible posture in the Caribbean.
On December 21, 2025, a photograph taken by Ricardo Arduengo showing 20 F-35 Lightning II fighters lined up at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in eastern Puerto Rico crystallized a new phase in the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean, only a few hundred kilometers from Venezuela. As reported in recent days, the former Cold War base, closed in 2004 and officially reactivated in 2025, now hosts a mixed detachment of U.S. Air Force F-35A and U.S. Marine Corps F-35B aircraft, marking the largest publicly known concentration of fifth-generation fighters ever deployed on Puerto Rican soil. This deployment comes against the backdrop of Operation Southern Spear and a broader U.S. naval and air presence assembled around Venezuela under the stated banner of counter-narcotics and sanctions enforcement, but widely interpreted as a coercive instrument in the Venezuelan crisis. The combination of advanced stealth fighters, a refurbished staging base and growing maritime pressure on Venezuelan oil exports gives this move regional significance well beyond a routine rotation of aircraft.
The appearance of roughly 20 U.S. F-35 stealth fighters at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico marks the largest such deployment on the island and underscores a sharpened American military posture toward Venezuela amid rising regional pressure (Picture Source: Ricardo Arduengo / Google Earth)
Arduengo’s image does more than document aircraft on a ramp; it captures the scale and density of a force package that would normally be associated with major combat operations. On the tarmac at Roosevelt Roads, ten F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing jets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 225 (VMFA-225) are now joined by additional F-35A conventional-takeoff fighters from the Vermont Air National Guard’s 134th Fighter Squadron, bringing the total to 20 aircraft. For a single forward base, that number is considerable: it is comparable to, or larger than, the entire frontline fighter fleets of some smaller air forces, and it is concentrated barely 500 miles (around 800–900 km) from the Venezuelan mainland.
Roosevelt Roads itself has been refurbished as a forward logistics hub, with its 11,000-foot runway, ample apron space and proximity to sea lines of communication making it ideal for staging both air and maritime assets. Within Operation Southern Spear, which has already brought an aircraft carrier, amphibious assault ships and thousands of troops into the region, the presence of two dozen fifth-generation fighters gives the United States a credible option to escalate rapidly from maritime interdiction to deep strikes if political decisions in Washington were to change.
From a purely technical perspective, the mix of F-35A and F-35B variants at Roosevelt Roads is tailored to the geography of the Caribbean and northern South America. The F-35A, the U.S. Air Force’s conventional take-off and landing version, combines low-observable shaping, internal weapons bays and advanced sensor fusion with a combat radius of roughly 1,200 kilometers on internal fuel, allowing it to reach targets deep inside Venezuelan territory and return without refueling. The F-35B, by contrast, sacrifices some fuel for its Rolls-Royce LiftSystem, enabling short takeoff and vertical landing operations from short runways or amphibious assault ships.
In the current configuration, F-35As at Roosevelt Roads can operate from a robust fixed base, while F-35Bs can disperse to smaller airstrips or decks at sea, complicating any adversary’s targeting calculus. Both share the same core avionics and data-fusion architecture, enabling them to operate as a single networked sensor and strike complex. In practical terms, this means the 20-jet package can detect, track and engage air and surface targets across the Caribbean basin, while sharing information with other U.S. assets such as maritime patrol aircraft, drones and surface combatants without necessarily revealing its own position.
Placing such a dense grouping of F-35s within easy reach of Venezuela radically changes the airpower balance in any scenario linked to the ongoing crisis. Venezuela’s Bolivarian Military Aviation still fields a limited number of Su-30MK2 multirole fighters and a small, aging contingent of F-16A/Bs, but chronic maintenance problems and sanctions have eroded sortie generation and readiness. Against this backdrop, 20 stealth fighters capable of penetrating air defenses, sharing targeting data and delivering precision munitions against mobile surface-to-air missile batteries, coastal radars, airbases or high-value command sites represent overwhelming qualitative superiority. The same aircraft can transition in a single mission from defensive counter-air to maritime strike, using their sensors to cue other platforms such as P-8 patrol aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones or surface ships already engaged in tracking sanctioned tankers and suspected drug-trafficking vessels. In practical terms, the Roosevelt Roads detachment can provide persistent air cover for the U.S. naval task force assembled off Venezuela, deter Venezuelan aircraft from aggressive maneuvers over international waters, and hold strategic infrastructure at risk without leaving the Caribbean theater.
Strategically, the deployment must be read alongside the broader evolution of Operation Southern Spear from a counter-drug campaign into a multi-vector pressure operation against Nicolás Maduro’s government. Officially, U.S. authorities frame the operation as aimed at “detecting, disrupting and degrading” illicit maritime networks, yet the same timeframe has seen more than twenty lethal strikes on suspected drug boats, the seizure of multiple tankers carrying Venezuelan crude, and the announcement of a blockade on sanctioned oil shipments. The reopening and rapid upgrading of Roosevelt Roads, together with expanded infrastructure at other Caribbean airfields, has been documented in detail by open sources and satellite imagery as part of a long-term staging concept aimed at operations “inside Venezuela” should they be ordered.
In response, Venezuela has not stood still: Maduro has sought Russian assistance for additional missiles, radar and combat aircraft, while Russian officials have publicly hinted at new deliveries of systems such as Pantsir-S1 and Buk-M2E to reinforce Venezuela’s already significant S-300VM-based air-defense network. Against this backdrop, the massed F-35 presence in Puerto Rico is a signal not just to Venezuela, but also to Moscow and other external actors, that any attempt to contest the air domain in a crisis would face a highly capable and forward-positioned U.S. force.
The concentration of 20 F-35s at Roosevelt Roads, captured in Ricardo Arduengo’s photograph, has therefore become an emblem of how the Venezuelan crisis is shifting from a primarily economic and political confrontation to one in which advanced airpower is central to the balance of risks and options. The deployment provides the United States with a flexible tool: it can remain a visible but non-kinetic deterrent backing up maritime interdiction and diplomatic pressure, or, if the political decision were made, it could form the spearhead of a rapid strike campaign designed to neutralize Venezuelan air defenses and key military assets. At the same time, its very presence encourages counter-moves, from Russian arms deliveries to Venezuelan military exercises, that deepen the militarization of the Caribbean. The coming weeks will show whether this unprecedented F-35 presence serves primarily as a brake on escalation or as an accelerant in an already volatile regional crisis.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
