Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs) in Venezuela proved helpless during US airstrikes due to the incompetence of the republic's military. This conclusion was reached by The New York Times.

According to the source, many Venezuelan SAM systems on January 3 were not even connected to radar stations.

The authors also noted the inability of the Venezuelan military to maintain and operate the S-300, which left the country's airspace vulnerable.

For example, it was previously reported that the S-300 damaged an American F-16 fighter with two missiles.

In addition, Venezuela has about five thousand units of Igla-S man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) in service. However, from those as well, not a single shot was fired.

Read more materials on the topic:

• Russia equipped Venezuela with the most saturated arsenal in Latin America: S-300, T-72, and Su-30
• Venezuela's Su-30MK2: fighters that keep the Caribbean sky under control
• Venezuela deployed Russian Buk-M2E SAM systems to protect the sky