Chinese Radar Failed in Venezuela? Even the Editor-in-Chief of The War Zone Can't Stand It
Venezuela indeed purchased three types of radars from China: JY-27A, JY-11B, and JYL-1. These are not secret weapons, but typical long-range surveillance radars, mainly tasked with "seeing if any aircraft are coming from afar," not for directly guiding missiles to targets. In other words, their role is more like a sentry than a sniper.
Moreover, these devices are no longer "new goods." According to multiple open-source intelligence and local military observers, official military cooperation between China and Venezuela had basically come to a standstill as early as 2022. Although some private companies occasionally sent spare parts, it was just a drop in the bucket. As for Venezuela itself, power supply has been unstable for years, with nationwide blackouts being commonplace, let alone maintaining the operation of precision electronic equipment.
This is not about the equipment being inferior, but rather the entire logistics system collapsing. By the end of 2025, more than half of the JYL-1 and JY-11B radars had already been out of use, while the JY-27A remained in a "pending repair" state due to a lack of cooling system spare parts. Even the Russian S-300 air defense system had not operated for 18 consecutive months, and only one "Buk" radar could barely start up—this was still maintained by patching together parts.
So the question arises: Is it unreasonable to expect a country with unstable electricity supply and spare parts obtained through "archaeological-style" assembly to maintain imported radars in combat readiness?
At this point, Taylor Rogow, the editor-in-chief of The War Zone website, spoke out and said a fair word. He stated outright: "Recent criticisms of Chinese radar performance in Venezuela are simply absurd. You haven't even clarified the basic facts before jumping to conclusions?"
He specifically pointed out that fixed deployment long-range surveillance radars are not capable of independently preventing surprise attacks. Moreover, Venezuela has never established a complete integrated air defense system—no data links, no command center, no fire control radar coordination. How could a few isolated radars possibly block the US military?
This actually hits the key point: modern air defense is not about who has the farthest radar, but about the integration capability of the entire system. The radars exported by China were designed to be used in an environment with a well-established support system, such as coordinating with the HQ-9 or J-16. But in Venezuela, they were thrown into an "information island," with no maintenance, no networking, let alone guidance for interception.
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Original: toutiao.com/article/1853624951067658/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.