February 17, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Venezuela operation relied on little-known cyber center, official says
A Joint Integration Fire Center to better integrate cyber and non-kinetic effects was proved out during operations in Venezuela last month.
SAN DIEGO — A little-known joint center for integrating cyber operations proved instrumental during the operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, a top Navy cyber official said this week. The Joint Integrated Fire Center (JIFC) acts as a combined air operations center that coordinates all the aircraft in an area of operations, Vice Adm. Hedi Berg, commander of 10th Fleet/Fleet Cyber Command, said at the annual WEST conference.
The organization encompasses all the headquarters elements and teams for cyber operations — as well as space counterparts, intelligence community and interagency — to help build out an understanding of cyber fires and work with kinetic and maneuver forces to layer those in at the timing and tempo of the commander. But the way the JIFC was used during Operation Absolute Resolve “validated” the construct, thanks to “very precision layered fires that also supported maneuver,” she said in public comments during the WEST 2026 conference in San Diego. “It was large and complex and precise and it validated much of what we had talked about, but it also talked about the absolute criticality, the absolute criticality of the precise delivery of cyber and space fires integrated in with SIGINT,” Berg told conference attendees during a presentation.