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OPINION JANUARY 23, 2026 | The Indian Eye 10

Operation Absolute Resolve

and the Future of Warfare:

Military Lessons for India

A.B. SHIVANE

he events of 3 January 2026
in Venezuela will eventual-
Tly be studied by professional
military institutions worldwide. For
India, they demand attention not as
distant drama but as a live demon-
stration of how powerful states con-
duct decisive military operations. The
United States carried out a short, vi-
olent, electronically-dominated sup-
pression campaign and a precision
Special Forces decapitation strike,
capturing President Nicolás Maduro
inside the capital city before Venezu-
ela’s defense network could meaning-
fully respond. A layered air defense
system built around Russian, Chinese
and Iranian platforms collapsed with-
in less than an hour when confronted
with a well-prepared, modern power but also to create systemic shock and on 3 January. It started years earlier, joint operations, multiple rehears-
projection. communications collapse. when systems were infiltrated, net- als and contingencies, and political
For Indian defense planners, When power failed, air defense works compromised, and trust was backing.
this operation reveals what modern networks shifted to backup systems, silently destroyed. By the time boots The heart of Operation Abso-
seizure of initiative looks like, how creating time-lag blind spots, pre- moved, the nation was already neu- lute Resolve was intelligence. Amer-
technologies shape tempo, why in- cisely when US helicopters crossed rologically disconnected. ican agencies reportedly built a con-
telligence now outweighs brute fire- the coastline. Cyber warfare did not Operation Absolute Resolve is tinuous presence inside Venezuela
power, and how doctrine transforms blind radars. It lied to them. Ad- perhaps the most explicit demonstra- months in advance. Human sources
hardware into usable capability. vanced ‘Suter-type’ intrusions ren- tion of actual multi-domain warfare mapped routines, vulnerabilities and
More importantly, it reveals vulner- dered radar and air defense networks in action. The battlefield was not psychological habits. Persistent air-
abilities of systems that many nations unreliable, showing operators clear land, sea or air. It was everywhere si- borne surveillance platforms, sup-
consider protective shields and the skies while over 150 aircraft entered multaneously. ported by maritime assets and for-
strategic language of electronic war- protected airspace. Command and Cyber warfare did three things ward-positioned operational hubs,
fare, cyber disruption and integrated control were cleanly severed. Key exceptionally: it turned off the city, complemented the human layer with
suppression of enemy air defenses. telecommunications nodes were re- causing blackouts, fear and disorder; imagery, signals intelligence and pat-
Absolute Resolve was not im- portedly targeted with denial-of-ser- it lied to radars, creating a false pic- tern recognition. This created what
provised. It was engineered over the vice attacks, leaving military leaders ture of safety; and it cut command every modern military seeks, but few
years. Power grids had already been unable to issue firing orders. In a po- chains, isolating leadership and achieve: continuous awareness, pre-
infiltrated. Communication networks litical system where initiative is pun- freezing response. This was not a dis- cision certainty and the confidence to
were already mapped. Surveillance ished, the absence of orders ensured ruption. This was strategic paralysis. act at will.
systems were quietly compromised. paralysis. Venezuela’s air defense systems were For India, this reinforces a truth
Dormant malware likely sat silently Even the surveillance infrastruc- physically intact, stocked and oper- our own operations have consis-
for months or years. When the op- ture was turned against its own mas- ational—yet they were in a coma. tently highlighted. Whether it was
eration began, cyber warriors did ter. Modern state surveillance, often That is the power of cyber-enabled Balakot, surgical strikes across the
not ‘attack’. They activated what was powered by foreign technology eco- warfare. Line of Control, or Operation Sin-
already there. The blackout was not systems, has become a vulnerability. Delta Force was merely the vis- door, success grows from patient
accidental. It was a targeted Super- Reports indicate compromise of the ible blade of a sword powered by in- intelligence architecture. However,
visory Control and Data Acquisition Venezuelan smart surveillance back- visible machinery. Their speed and Operation Absolute Resolve pushes
(SCADA) attack, reportedly aimed bone, allowing adversaries to literally confidence were products of cyber this requirement to a significantly
at Venezuela’s Guri Dam network, ‘see’ through the state’s own camer- dominance, C5ISR superiority, train- higher level. It illustrates the fusion
designed not only to shut off power as. Thus, the real battle did not begin ing, intelligence-based operations, Continued on next page... >>

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