Incident Code
Incident Code
Incident Date
Location
Airwars Assessment
An alleged U.S. military strike destroyed five research centers which were part of the Dr. Humberto Fernández-Morán National University of Sciences in Altos de Pipe, Miranda State, Venezuela on January 3, 2026.
The Venezuelan government posted on their website a statement from the Minister of Science and Technology Gabriela Jiménez Ramírez that the U.S. military attack on January 3rd “destroyed five research centers of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC)” including those for Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Ecology, and the Nuclear Technology Unit and noted their importance as part of the Dr. Humberto Fernández-Morán National University of Sciences. Venezuelan government official and director of IVIC Dr. Alberto Quintero reportedly analyzed a video showing the aftermath and concluded that an AGM-154C-1, a precision glide guided bomb, had struck the IVIC. Images included show extensive damage to the exterior and interior of different buildings.
A tweet from @lubrio, referring to the “U.S. bomb AGM-154C-1”, included similar information and republished the same video posted by multiple sources showing the remnants of a missile identified as that which struck the IVIC. Munitions specialists at Airwars’ partner project the Open Source Munitions Portal confirmed that remnant image is of an AGM-154 JSOW series (OSMP1880).
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the attack to the U.S. military.
Key Information
Munition
Munition remnants were seen in a video posted by @lubrio on Twitter/X from the site of the incident and have been identified as an AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) by munitions experts at the Open Source Munitions Portal (OSMP), a joint project between Airwars and the Armament Research Services (ARES). The AGM-154C-1 is described by the U.S. Navy as their “first air-to-ground Network-Enabled Weapon (NEW) capable of attacking stationary land and moving maritime targets.
Tentative Model
