On September 2 a story started whose end is still expected to be long. That day, the United States claimed that it had shot down a drug boat off the coast of Venezuela. From then until now the tension levels have been increasing with continuous arrival of a Washington fleet in the area and a disturbing idea that floats in the air about the true magnitude of Washington’s movement.
And, in response, Venezuela has just presented a simulator for its navy.
A Russian video game. They counted it on Insider. At the Military Academy of the Bolivarian Army of Venezuela, in Caracas, they spread recently images of young cadets learning to handle kamikaze drones through flight simulators. The machines, covered and equipped with joysticks and flat screens, were intended to show the technological leap of the Venezuelan army in terms of unmanned warfare.
However, the video images caused international surprise: the software used is practically identical (if not the same) to the Russian video game FPV Kamikaze Dronedeveloped by the company HFM Games and sold on the Steam platform for just $3.99.
The shadow of the copy. The interface, graphics, engine physics and even the mission selection menu are exactly the same. From Moscow, the studio’s own co-founder, Aleksei Kolotilov, confirmed that there was never contact with the Venezuelan government nor any adaptation of the program for military purposes.
“Our game was created only for civil entertainment,” he said, ironically saying that, if Caracas wanted to thank the “involuntary collaboration,” they could “send a couple of barrels of oil” in exchange for fixing some software bugs.
Cheap simulators. He institutional videospread between patriotic speeches and slogans of loyalty, was published just when the tension between the United States and Venezuela reached one of its peaks. highest peaks in years, fueling fears of an open confrontation.
In other materialthe army commander, General Johan Hernández Lárez, solemnly states that the young people are “ready to destroy the enemy”, while a cadet shows how his virtual drone is launched against a complex of buildings, in a recreation identical to the missions of the Russian game. In another broadcast recording For the academy itself, a uniformed presenter thanks the Armed Forces for the “joint effort” that allowed them to acquire the simulators, while dozens of cadets practice in a row of terminals with recreational aesthetics.
From Ukraine to Caracas. we have told before: FPV drones have become a lethal tool low-cost, popularized by the Ukrainian army and quickly adopted by powers and developing countries. Unlike reconnaissance drones, FPVs are operated as if the operator were inside them, allowing for precise attacks at low cost.
Their proliferation has transformed battlefields, democratizing the ability to inflict harm. In the Ukrainian war, pilots train with digital programsbut they must also demonstrate their expertise in real tests before operating in combat. Armies around the world have taken note, and now even countries without a technological tradition, like Venezuela, are seeking to adapt the model with limited resources.
The symbolic effect. The use of a commercial video game as a supposed military simulator reveals the paradox of the Venezuelan defense apparatus: an army that exhibits power, but depends from improvised means. In a context of international sanctions, technological isolation and scarce resources, the adoption of Russian civilian software to train officers becomes both a propaganda gesture and a symbol of precariousness.
Unlike the United States or Ukraine itself, where learning is completed with real practices, the Venezuelan army seems to resort to low cost solutions to project an image of modernization.
However, beyond the irony of a cheap video game being transformed into a military tool, the episode reflects another global trend: the blurring of the border between digital entertainment and real war, where the preparation of soldiers and the simulation of combat can depend, literally, on software designed for gaming.
Image | Military Academy of the Bolivarian Army
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