Kamikaze drones in Venezuela: videos point to US use in Operation “Absolute Resolve”

Several videos recorded by residents of Venezuela suggest that the US Armed Forces used kamikaze drones against Venezuelan army facilities. The suspicion concerns Operation “Absolute Resolve” to abduct President Nicolás Maduro.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had presented the new, low-cost unmanned kamikaze drone system Lucas (Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System) in July 2025 – to media representatives in the Pentagon courtyard.

U.S. used kamikaze drones resembling the Iranian “Shahed” that it copied from Iran to attack targets in Venezuela during the kidnapping of Maduro pic.twitter.com/GedlyRwbiu— 𝕬𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖆🥷🖤✨ (@Umm_4mm4r4) January 6, 2026

Lucas: kamikaze drones modelled on the Shahed

Lucas was developed by Spektre Works, a defence company based in Arizona. The one-way attack drone can be used as a practice target for air defence forces and fighter aircraft, but with a warhead also as a kamikaze drone. In fact, Lucas is a copy of the Iranian Shahed drones and the Russian Geran-2 drones, which it closely resembles.

WATCH: Multiple videos show drones being used during the U.S. operation in Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/Ef4BLtaKIb— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) January 5, 2026

Exactly such drones are likely to have been used, according to the videos that have now surfaced online. The sound heard before the impacts is familiar from Ukraine (see video below). Powered by a piston engine and wooden propeller, the drones dive down on their final approach. The resulting excessive speed makes the air at the propeller howl characteristically.

This morning, ~4 Russian Geran-2 drones attacked the town of Vasylkivka, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The target was the secondary school, where a large fire is now burning.
Coordinates: 48.217675, 36.011639 pic.twitter.com/WlXWnxImaK— AMK Mapping 🇳🇿 (@AMK_Mapping_) August 19, 2025

No such howling is known from any US weapon system so far. It occurs neither with Tomahawk cruise missiles nor with any type of free-fall, guided or powered bombs of the US Armed Forces.