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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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